Ningen
by Arkaidy
Summary: In an alternate reality where the Saiyajinn took over Earth, one young woman's life is changed forever when a stranger confronts her in the street. Ningen means Human, and he spat it like an insult. Part One.
1. Meeting

"Ningen"  
–By Vega  
  
***  
  
Author's Notes: Inspired by a whacked out dream. Yeah, right. Thanks Trin!  
  
Thanks: Shadow! I LUV YOU!!! THANKS FOR A PLOT!!  
  
Rating: R. Lotsa cussing. And Lemon. Mmmm... lemonade...  
  
Disclaimers: DragonBallZ, and all recognizable concepts and characters belong to Toriyama   
Akira-sama and Bird Studios. The lyrics belong to ...er... whoever wrote them!? *sweatdrops* So please don't sue me, the DBZ guys aren't mine... I just slip in and play with them when no one is looking.  
  
HOWEVER... any and all original characters are mine! MINE MINE MINE!! Wanna borrow them? ASK SO I CAN SAY "YES"!!  
  
And now:  
  
A note on the Japanese:  
  
wagakimi: my lord  
  
Honto: Really.  
  
Ore no Gaki: My brat  
  
Hai: Yes.  
  
Ile: No  
  
Chikyuu :Earth  
  
-jinn: the people of (ie: Chikyuu-jinn)  
  
Ningen: Foreign.  
  
-sei: the planet of (ie: Chikyuu-sei)  
  
watashi no okiniiri: My Pet  
  
watashi no guujin: My Puppet  
***  
  
"Ningen"  
–by Vega  
  
***  
  
Perhaps a year after the Saiyans came to Earth is where my tale begins.   
  
We humans - Chikyuu-jinn - grew almost accustomed to having them around. Of   
course, by accustomed I mean, we were used to having to watch what we said and did   
all the time.   
  
Strange, to be living with the Saiyans always on Earth. Or rather, above Earth. Most   
of them lived on those huge orbiting cities around the planet. A select few others lived   
on the surface. Usually in camps, spread around the surface according to the   
population distribution of Humans.   
  
To keep us humans under control, don'tcha know.   
  
Really, the intimidation factor was enough to keep the general human population from   
rebelling Saiya-jinn rule. Bunch of sheep that we are.   
  
We fought back at first, but the Saiyans quickly enough quashed that. And then,   
surprisingly, when the rest of us left were certain that the Saiyans were going to kill us or   
rape or cart the rest of us off to slave camps... they left us alone.   
  
That is to say, they told us to go about our normal lives... with a few adjustments.   
  
Global Curfews.   
  
We had to give up a lot of minerals and natural water. But the mines the   
  
Saiya-jinn set up employed millions. The businesses that catered to the Saiyans   
generated a marvellous global economy.   
  
Nope, not a bad way to live if you ignore the fact that you are always looking over your   
shoulder, wondering if you'll be targeted as either an 'example' or a 'threat.'   
  
Now, if they had wanted to purge our planet, they could have, but they decided that the   
natural resources were too precious to them to sell to the highest bidder, and so took   
Earth for themselves.   
  
I suppose we all were, in essence, slaves, but they Saiyans let us live out or daily lives   
somewhat normally. So, like most of the other people in my small town, little changed   
for me with the coming of the Saiya-jinn.   
  
I still attended school on a daily basis. However, we began to learn about other inter- galactic cultures in Social Studies. And we learned Saiyago in Languages. What a   
growly, grunty language that is.   
  
I still can't get my head around it.  
  
I still saw my friends on the weekends, and pondered getting a part-time job when I had   
to mooch money from my parents.   
  
Like everyone, I was careful to get back home before midnight -curfew- each night, and stayed tucked in my basement during full moons. More often than naught, though, I was smart and stayed inside after sundown.   
It was a schedule that I stuck to...   
  
...except when I started choir rehearsals after school at the beginning of my senior   
highschool year.   
  
My parents were worried that I would be out after dark come winter when I walked   
home from school (that walk usually took me a half-hour), and even though the official global curfew was midnight, the Saiyans were known to fly around after sundown. The meaner ones sometimes would use helpless pedestrians as target practice. The cruder ones might suggest with a wave of a tail that a particular female ought to follow them into an alley.   
  
Or else.  
  
People that displeased the Saiya-jinn tended to disappear.  
  
We'd all heard stories of that happening in the cities. Saiyans forcing humans, male or   
female.   
  
But I lived in a little nothing town in the boonies of North America. Heck, the nearest   
Saiya-jinn outpost was nearly an hour's drive away. So I really wasn't too scared of   
that happening to me.   
  
And besides, it had been almost a year since the Saiyans had taken over earth, and if   
they hadn't grabbed me yet, and didn't think they ever would. (I wasn't exactly Claudia   
Shiffer, y'know).   
  
So, about the middle of September, I was walking home alone, just a few steps off the   
school property, and I began to sing to myself.   
  
Now, ordinarily, you wouldn't consider that dangerous. Even with the Saiyans around, singing wasn't dangerous. But it's what got me into this mess.   
  
As I strolled down the sidewalk, I began to hear the crunch of leaves following behind me, footsteps hitting the pavement in beat to my song. I stopped singing and stopped moving, my heart leaping up into my throat.   
I turned slowly, coming face to face with every human's worst fear.   
  
A Saiyan.   
  
Or rather, the chest-plate of Saiya-jinn armour. The guy was THAT tall.   
I gulped heavily, hands trembling, breaking out into a sweat. This was it. I was going to die.   
  
"Do it again." the Saiyan barked at me and I craned my head back to look at his narrow, angular face. The long scar that trailed over his right eye down to his chin made him look all the more menacing.  
  
"D-do wh-hat...?" I managed to stutter, by some unknown miracle.   
  
"That... sound." he said, black eyes narrowing.   
  
It took me a second to realize that he meant he wanted me to sing again. "I c-can't..." I   
mumbled, my mouth going dry and my tongue feeling limp.   
  
"Why not?" he growled, and I looked at my feet, a blush staining my cheeks. He understood instantly. "You're too scared." his scowl faded into an arrogant smirk. "You're terrified of me."   
  
I could only nod.   
  
He sighed, masses of spiky black hair that trailed down to the bottom of his shoulder-blades bobbing as he nodded to himself. "Understandable. What do you call it?"   
  
"Th-the noise?"   
  
WHY was he still here? What did he WANT?   
  
"Hai." he snapped, annoyed that I had to keep repeating his questions.   
  
"Singing."   
  
The paused for a moment, blinking, tail flexing around his waist. I watched that extra appendage carefully, for it was known that Saiyans could hit someone hard enough with their tails to kill.  
  
"That's not singing." he hissed. "Not the way we do it on Vejiita-sei."   
  
I couldn't control my... well, shock. "You SING?"  
  
He glared murder at me. I cowered. In fact, I damn near fainted. And I don't faint easy.  
  
I had to grab a nearby telephone pole to stay on my feet. Hell, I wanted to retain at least a LITTLE dignity before I died!  
  
"Is that hard for you to believe?" He asked stoically. I shook my head obediently. Consequently, the scrunchie in my mousy-brown hair slipped out with the movement, and my hair spilled around my face. He glared at the fallen scrunchie for a second, and bent to scoop it up faster than I could see.  
  
Much to my shock, after he sniffed at it and examined it, he handed it back to me.  
  
"Um, thanks." I muttered. I took it back very very carefully, and was about to put it back in my hair when he reached out and brushed his gauntleted fingers through it. I cringed away from his hand and squeezed my eyes shut.  
  
Great! Not only was I going to DIE, he was going to RAPE me first!  
  
"P-please don't..." I whispered very softly. I'm honestly surprised he heard me.  
  
He dropped his handful of hair and frowned at me.  
  
He turned his back to me, the scowl growing deeper. "I may be a Saiya-jinn, but I would never harm a woman who didn't want me. " he turned his face so I could see his dark profile. "I was only curious about your hair. It's so... limp."  
  
I said nothing. What could I say? I was ... ashamed to think that he just wanted to kill me... of course, I had reason. But I had insulted him.  
  
"Nothing to say?" he snorted. Had I hurt his feelings? Did Saiyans even have feelings to hurt? "Don't you have somewhere to be, Ningen?"  
  
I didn't know if he could see me nod frantically, but I'm certain he heard my heart pounding against my chest and my sneakers pounding against the pavement as I ran for home.  
  
I locked the door behind me, dropping my schoolbag to the ground and ran for the basement, where my room was.   
  
"Honey!" I heard Mom shout down after me. "You're late! Did anything happen?"  
  
"No." I called back up.  
  
She didn't believe me. Mom came down the stairs and stared at me. "Nothing happened, did it? You... you didn't have a problem with... with a Saiyan?"  
  
I didn't know how to respond. So I lied. I mean, what if he was listening right now? "No Mom." I snorted. "Why does everything have to be about Saiyans with you? I was just... talking to someone. Sorry, okay?"  
  
Mom gave me a look like she wasn't sure if she should believe me, and went back upstairs. I went into the downstairs bathroom and turned on the shower so it would be hot when I stepped in, and stripped.  
  
God, I felt dirty.  
  
"Talking." I laughed quietly to myself, staring at my face in the mirror. "Talking... with a Saiya-jinn. That's practically an Oxymoron."  
  
I stepped under the steamy water, curled into a corner under the spray, and stifled the tears.  
  
I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was just the first of many times I was going to see that Saiya-jinn man.  
  
I often wished I had been wrong.  
  
***  
  
The next night, after choir rehearsal, I tried to run home, hoping he wouldn't see me.  
  
I ran right into him, literally.  
  
"Where are you going so fast, Ningen?" He smirked down at me. "Trying to avoid me?"  
  
"N-no..." I said, and he scowled. "Yes." I stepped away from him and bowed my head so he couldn't see my frightened expression.  
  
"I really do have you terrified." He chuckled. Then he reached out and touched my cheek. "Your exercise has made you hot."  
  
I took a shaky step away from him, and he let me. My mouth was dry and my knees knocking.  
  
He stared at me for a very long time with an unreadable expression, then grinned wide. I shuddered. "So..." he said, "A moron, am I?"  
  
I blinked. "What?"  
  
"You called me an 'Oxymoron' last night."  
  
Oh, shit! He had HEARD ME?!  
  
I shook my head frantically. "No, that's not what I meant!"  
  
"Honto?" He smiled and took a step closer to me. "I'm very certain of what I heard."  
  
"N-no! The word 'Oxymoron' means two opposing words describing the same thing... like... uh..." I searched frantically for an example, and came up with the cliches. "Jumbo Shrimp. Stupidly clever. Military Intelligence!"  
  
I cringed as he frowned at the last one, and I remembered that every Saiya-jinn was a soldier. Shit.  
  
He looked very very darkly at me, and if looks could have killed...  
  
"I'm sorry." I mewled.   
  
He stepped forward to wrap iron fists around my shoulders. It hurt so much I let forth a squeal of pain and my knees buckled. Then only thing keeping me from succumbing to gravity was his hands.  
  
"You think you're funny?" he hissed.  
  
I chocked back a sob. "N-no..."  
  
He threw me into the leaves piled on the curb and took to the air.   
  
I stared after him with wide eyes, surprised I was even alive to watch him go.  
  
***  
  
The next night I skipped choir to avoid him.  
  
It worked.  
  
The next night I skipped again. It only took him one night to get wise.  
  
"Avoiding me, Ningen?" he smirked as he appeared in front of me that fourth night.  
  
I said nothing.  
  
"Why?" he questioned. "Do I scare you that much?"  
  
After four days of avoiding my parent's questions and my friends worried looks at my drawn and pale features, I could no longer hold it in. I began to freak. "What do you WANT!?" I screamed at him.  
  
He merely blinked at me.  
  
"Oh, so you do have bite." he said. I fell to the grass of a deserted lawn in wonder and he stared down at me, arms crossed.  
  
"Please," I said, "Just tell me what you want..."  
  
"I want you to make that noise again." he said, as if I should already know. "Sing."  
  
I stared at him blankly for a few seconds before beginning to laugh. "Sing." I said softly. "Sing..." I sighed and buried my face in my hands. "Sing."  
  
The man scowled down at me. Then he raised an eyebrow, "So?"  
  
I looked him in the eye. What could I do? Say no? And die? After all, all he wanted was a song, perhaps then he'd leave me alone...  
  
So I sang. I didn't feel very happy at that particular moment, and so chose to sing one of the slow ballads we'd been learning in choir. Luckily, I was a soprano and had the melody.  
  
"Oh Danny Boy" came to my mind immediately.  
  
After I finished, the Saiya-jinn blinked down at me. "What was that?" he asked.  
  
"A song about a boy." I said quietly. "His father is telling him that he loves him and that he's going to die before Danny gets back from war. But he asks Danny not to grieve for him, because he'll rest peacefully just because he knows his son loves him."  
  
The Saiyan simply stared at me. "Foolish. If his father is that weak, why doesn't Danny just kill him?"  
  
I stared back, horrified. "Just.. K-kill him!?"  
  
"Hai." the Saiyan snorted. "That's what Saiya-jinn do."  
  
I lowered my eyes.  
  
"Humph." the Saiyan snorted, and took to the air. He was gone.  
  
I shuddered on the cold evening grass, got to my feet, and trudged home, praying that I would never see that man again.  
  
Too bad Kami was too busy dealing with all the recently departed souls to deal with me.  
  
***  
  
"Where are you coming from, Ningen?" I heard, the words all but whispered directly into my ear as I waited on the street corner for the light to change. I really didn't need to wait, this part of the town was figuratively dead this time of evening, but I waited all the same.  
  
I jumped when the hot breath tickled my ear. I yelped when I realized who it was.  
  
"I– I thought you were going to leave me alone..." I said softly.  
  
"Did I say that?" the Saiyan smirked, tapping a gloved finger against his chin. "I don't think so."  
  
"Well, no. But I assumed--"  
  
"Don't assume." he snapped at me. "The first rule when dealing with an enemy. Never 'assume'." I nodded weakly, eyes lowered, taking his advice. So, I was an enemy. Or, was he telling me to be wary of HIM?   
  
He made an approving sound, like a teacher having gotten a lesson through to a pupil... or a master to a slave. "So?"  
  
I looked up puzzled. "Pardon?"  
  
Before I even knew it was coming, his hand lashed out and struck my cheek hard enough to draw blood from the corner of my lip. I was honestly shocked that he had bothered to control himself enough not to kill me.  
  
"Pay attention when I ask you something, Ningen!" he snapped.  
  
"I'm sorry." I responded softly.  
  
He growled low in his throat, sounding very unhappy. "Don't be sorry! Answer!"  
  
I nodded again. "School."   
  
"For what?" He asked irritably.  
  
I looked him in the eye. Suddenly, I didn't care if he killed me or not. Fuck this, anyway. If he wanted to play cat and mouse, he could go find a target with less of a backbone. I was going to KEEP MY DIGNITY, DAMMIT!   
  
"Because I WANT to." I spat back, as impudently as I could, and walked across the intersection before the light changed back.  
  
He followed me, trotting across the street to stride beside me, tail swaying behind him. "Oh." he smiled. "The ferrokan has claws."  
  
I didn't know what a 'ferrokan' was, and I didn't care. Besides, didn't we have the same saying on Earth, with cats?  
  
When we got to the other side of the road, he grabbed my shoulder and spun me to face him. He looked angry. "You still haven't answered my question, little bitch."  
  
I glared right back. His expression never wavered, and I finally had to look away first. "To learn." I said, down over my arm.  
  
"Learn what?"  
  
"History. Geography. Sociology. Languages." I looked back up at him. "We study the great literary works of our planet. It's best music and art. We formulate math equations and scientific principals and pursue physics and biology. We philosophize about the world and reality around us."  
  
The Saiyan seemed to mull this over. "What's the point?"  
  
"To apply the greater knowledge to the real world and succeed!" I snapped.  
  
The warrior frowned, let me go, and continued walking up the street. When I didn't follow he looked back over his shoulder and clasped his hands behind his broad back expectantly.   
  
I quickly caught up and we began to walk. I said nothing, waiting to see if he had any other questions, biting my tongue to keep from asking mine.  
  
When we reached the end of my street, almost twenty minutes later, he still had said nothing. But here he stopped, looked me up and down and said, "Tomorrow, Ningen. I will have more for you to answer."  
  
"Yes." I said calmly, obediently. He took to the air, and was gone. Alone on the street corner, something suddenly occurred to me. I had been terrified of this man for almost a week... and I still didn't know his name.  
  
***  
  
"Ningen." he said in greeting, if you could call it a greeting.  
  
"Saiyan." I responded with a half smile, waiting for the light to change.  
  
"Where were you for the last two days?!" he snarled immediately. "I told you to meet me here!"  
  
"Yes." I said slowly. "But I didn't go to school yesterday, or the day before. We never go to school on weekends." Then I waited to be hit as he raised his hand.  
  
The Saiya-jiin narrowed those black eyes of his at me, and I cowered.  
  
He seemed pleased with my reaction, and lowered his arm. "I suppose it was my fault for not studying your habits more before assuming. You shall not be punished for it."  
  
We continued walking. Finally, he said, "Where did you learn?"   
  
I looked over at him. "Learn what?"  
  
"How to sing like that. It's so... strange. Too many ... smooth sounds."  
  
I laughed to myself. He almost sounded like a child... almost. "I'm lucky, I'm naturally good. But everyone can sing." he gave me a look. "Not everyone can sing WELL..."  
  
And believe it or not... he laughed. After a few more minutes of silence I screwed up my courage and said, "Can I ask you something?"  
  
He looked at me, as if surprised that I was even bold enough to ask such a question. I suppose his curiosity won over because he responded with a nod.  
  
"Why Earth?"  
  
He stopped and looked at me for a very long time, eyes roaming up and down my frame. I blushed and hid my face in my scarf. It had gotten colder recently, and I'd switched from light jackets to sweaters and scarfs... and boy was I glad I had it.  
  
"Because it was here." He finally said, judging my question worthwhile. "And it had what we wanted. And you humans were easy enough to conquer. That is, after we killed all those of you who were intelligent enough or stupid enough to try to start a rebellion."  
  
I said nothing and looked away from him, resuming walking.  
  
"Oh-ho." he laughed, "Have I insulted the Ningen's tender sensibilities?"  
  
"My name," I flared, "Is NOT Ningen!"  
  
The Saiyan shrugged. "I don't care what your name is. You are whatever I choose to call you."  
  
"Very well." I snarled. "Why should I care?"  
  
The Saiyan caught up with me and smirked into my face. "What IS your name, Ningen?"  
  
"It doesn't matter, SAIYA-JINN." I spat.  
  
He scowled. "Rurutip."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"My name," he growled, "is Rurutip."  
  
"Turnip" I echoed softly.  
  
"Feh." he sighed, and we reached the end of my street. "Tomorrow, Ningen."  
  
"Hai," I said, head bowed, obedient. "Tomorrow."  
  
***  
  
I wasn't surprised when Rurutip showed up beside me on the deserted evening sidewalks the next night.  
  
"May I ask another question?" I said immediately.  
  
He laughed at me. I suppose I must have sounded awfully eager. Then he gave a slight inclination of his head, telling me to go ahead.  
  
"Rurutip, you said Saiya-jinn sang. Sing for me, please! I've been curious all day! What does it sound like?"  
  
He blushed. Rurutip the mighty bad-ass actually BLUSHED! "I don't sing." he said, his deep voice low. "I'm no good."  
  
"Oh." was all I said. We walked in silence again until it was time to part. Every once and a while, I snatched glances at Rurutip.  
  
He was actually rather good looking... for a psychotic cold-blooded killer. Sharp features, dark deep eyes and heavy bangs with just-below-shoulder length hair. Massive ridged scar that began just above the eyebrow of his right eye and traced the curve of his cheek all the way down to the chin. Some one had taken a good chunk out of him once.  
  
Now that the weather was colder, he had begun to wear boots and gloves and a full-length, sleeveless black combat suit. Spandex.  
  
And boy, did that spandex let me know EXACTLY what the temperature out was like.  
  
Not that I was developing a crush on Rurutip. Ick. No, but he was interesting. It was helping me realize that while maybe life under the Saiyans may not be nice, but it'll be at least intellectually rewarding.  
  
When we reached the end of my street, I touched his hand to keep him from leaving just yet before he took to the air, and it surprised him.  
  
"I have one more question."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, and I took it as a "go ahead."  
  
"Why me?"  
  
He stared at me for a very very long time. "I was flying overhead. I heard you sing. I was curious. That's all."  
  
And then, abruptly as his words, he was gone.  
  
I wasn't sure if I should be insulted or not.  
  
***  
  
The next day Rurutip didn't show up. I didn't know what to think. Had I angered him? Was he tied up and couldn't come?   
  
Should I be glad he was gone? Should I be insulted?  
  
Should I even care?  
  
***  
  
The next night -Friday- Rurutip was back, but very bloody and bruised.  
  
"Ningen." he grunted at me.  
  
"Rurutip!" I squeaked. "What happened?"   
  
He stared at me coldly. Distant. Much more distant than he had been for the last two weeks.  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked slowly. I was sure we had been growing more comfortable around each other lately.  
  
"I shall not meet you here anymore." he snarled before I could say anything else. He tensed, and was about to leave, when he slowly turned back to me and touched my cheek. "I never noticed before." he said softly. "But the way the cold bites your skin makes your cheeks flush. It's attractive."  
  
And then he was gone.  
  
***  
  
That night, I showered like normal and pulled on my boy-pyjamas, and crawled into bed.   
  
I rolled onto one side, punched my pillow, and tried to get comfortable. But thoughts of Rurutip wouldn't leave me alone.   
  
Had he been punished for visiting me each day?   
  
Is that why he had been so beat up? Or had there been a tournament or something?  
Was I worth it?  
  
I couldn't get comfortable, so rolled in the other direction. I wrapped my arms around the pillow... then... I realized... "Why is the damn thing so hard?" I punched to soften it, and nearly broke my fingers.  
  
"Ow!" I howled, and a large hand immediately stifled my cries.  
  
"Shhhh!" A deep voice hissed. "Do you want your parents to hear us?"  
  
I immediately recognized it as Rurutip's.  
  
"Rurutip!" I mumbled around his hand. "Let go! What are you doing!" Of course it came out more like "Brubib! Lego! Wha'reewpoi?!"  
  
I tried to pull away from him, to pull back, but could not move. I began to panic, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes. "Please, please, don't Rurutip!"  
  
Something warm and furry wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against his side.   
  
"Please, please..." I whispered. "No..."  
  
"Shut up, Ningen." Rurutip whispered, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "If you're too loud, you'll wake up your 'tousan, and then I'll have to kill him."  
  
I froze, and he finally moved his hand from my mouth. "Please, no." I pleaded under my breath, I begged.  
  
I felt rather than saw his hand run down my cheek, into my hair, and along my shoulder.  
  
"Rurutip." I said softly, begging in only one word.  
  
"I won't do anything you don't want me to if you obey." He answered in gentle tones. "I merely wish to speak to you more. This seems the most feasible method." The furry thing around my waist -his tail, I realized - pulled me so much that I was actually on top of his broad chest.  
  
I gulped, noticing that he wasn't wearing either his breast plate or his under-shirt. Damn.  
  
I began to tremble. I know I had resolved never to be afraid of Rurutip again, but now he was in my bed, wearing no shirt, clasping my body to his.  
  
I was scared absolutely shitless.  
  
I stayed very quiet, and felt very small as he shifted his grip to the back of my shoulders, pushing me against his broad, hard chest. I whimpered.  
  
"Stop making such pathetic sounds." Rurutip snapped. "I hate it when you whine."  
  
I forced my voice to be non-existent.  
  
"And stop shaking like that." he snarled, "Or you'll make me do something you'll regret."  
  
I TRIED to stop quaking, really I did, but the threat made me even more terrified, and I shook more.  
  
Rurutip snarled low in his throat, and the sound held warning.  
  
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my cheek into his neck, trying with all my might to relax and stop squirming, but my body wouldn't stop shivering.  
  
The second sound that came from him was a growl that held less menace than lust.  
  
The third was a purr that was pure enjoyment.  
  
I grew tense and snapped my head up when I realized why. I had finally relaxed, but had been so intent on calming myself down that I hadn't paid any attention to where my various limbs were sprawled.  
  
My lips had been pressed to the skin under his ear. My hands had been fisted over his huge pectorals... and my legs had somehow shifted so one was on the outside of his hip, while the other was in between his legs.  
  
I whimpered again when his teeth closed gently on one of my ears.  
  
"Just remember..." he smiled in the dark, and I felt him roll. I was suddenly pinned beneath him on my mattress, his hands on my shoulders, his legs on either side of my knees, and his tail lashing in the dark as he arched his entire body. "...you started this."  
  
I thrashed madly, but I couldn't get free from under him. I began to beg. "Rurutip, please, please don't! It was an accident, I didn't mean to– !"  
  
His hand came over my mouth, effectively silencing my cries. Then he leaned down slowly and bit the tip of my nose. I'm certain my eyes must have been fearful pinpricks in a sea of white.  
  
"There is something I must tell you, Ningen." he said softly as his free hand began to slowly move down my side. I squirmed to avoid it, but I could only move my body so far. "I heard you sing, yes, and that is why I stopped. But there was something that kept me coming back."  
  
I screwed my eyes shut, praying to Kami that this wasn't the reason I thought it was.  
  
"I killed my concubine three weeks ago. I need a new one."  
  
I whimpered against his mouth as he suddenly drove his tongue between my lips. I fought back with everything I had, but to no avail. It was like beating my fists against concrete. His tongue slithered across my cheek, down my neck to the little hollow where my collar bones dipped together.  
  
He then lifted his face to my ear. "I think you'll do."  
  
***  
  
I sat alone, on my bed, shivering.  
  
Rurutip was gone.  
  
Then why the HELL was I still... a virgin?  
  
He said he wanted to keep me, so why hadn't he...?  
  
Unable to do anything more, I hid my hands in my face... and wept.  
  
***  
  
I didn't go to school the next day. What was the point? Rurutip had made it more than obvious that I no longer had a future to plan for.  
  
Mom was worried, and when she saw my pale face and sweat-soaked brow the next morning, she assumed it was the fever and made me stay in bed all day while she and Dad went to work.  
  
That bed was the last place I wanted to be, but I couldn't gather enough energy to move.  
  
That is, until Rurutip suddenly appeared at the foot of my bed late that afternoon.  
  
Then I screamed, the loudest, harshest sound I could possibly make and dove for the door. He intercepted me in the hall, a hand wrapping around the top of my arm.  
  
"Let me go letmegolemmiego!" I screamed, beating against him ineffectually. He dropped my arm and backed away from him. "Leave me alone!!"  
  
Rurutip grinned and grabbed my shoulders, pulling me flush against his chest. "Have you said your goodbyes, Ningen?"  
  
I crumpled into a pile on the carpet by his feet and began to sob. He stared at me for a very long time, a frown etched onto his face and finally crouched. "What the Hell's the matter with you? You should be honoured that I picked you."  
  
I merely blubbered.  
  
"Damnit, I thought you liked talking to me!"  
  
I snapped my head up an narrowed my eyes at him. "So that automatically means I want you to rape me every night?!" I hissed harshly.   
  
His frown got deeper as he tucked my chin in his palm. "I'm taking you with me." he hissed. "I really don't care if you want to or not, Ningen, but know this...." He pushed me back onto the carpet and grazed his sharp canines across the tender flesh of my throat. "You are mine and I will do whatever I want with you."  
  
He got up with a dark sigh and glared down at me. "Get up." he snapped and slowly I did so, head bowed as the silent tears continued to slip down my cheeks. "I will return at sunset for you. Pack up the things you wish to take with you to my ship. Bring your music." he grinned ferally, his tail loping to and fro behind him, the tip quivering. "Tonight is a very special night. I will be the first and only man to tear you. I will make you mine, Ningen."  
  
I could only nod numbly. A few seconds later I realized he was gone.  
  
And that I was really and truly alone for the first time in my life.  
  
***  
  
END PART ONE 


	2. Adjustment

"Nigen-2"  
--by Vega  
  
  
I had to explain to my mother when she got home from work why there was a packed knapsack sitting by the door.  
  
It held music, my sketch pad, some pencils, water colours and a black inking pen, and a few changes of clothing and toiletries. And a small photo of my little family. I couldn't fit much more than that, and I wasn't even sure I'd be allowed to take that much with me... wherever it was that I was going.  
  
Mom just stared at me with wide eyes. At first they were shocked. Then accusing, like this was all somehow my fault, then just... sad.  
  
Not grief-stricken or wailing, just... sad.  
  
Almost like she had been preparing for something like this for the past year.  
  
She explained quietly to Dad when he came home, in another room while I sat in the kitchen, watching the sauce simmer.  
  
I wondered if Rurutip would at least allow me a final dinner with my family.  
  
I knew I should have picked up the phone and called my friends to tell them good-bye too... But I thought maybe it would just be better for them if the severance was clean. I knew it would be better for me...  
  
When Dad came out, he looked at me for a very long time, and then hugged me tighter than I ever was before.  
  
"Maybe this isn't all bad." he said slowly in my ear as we squeezed each other. "You'll get to see the universe, and learn all sorts of things. I know you love to learn, hun..."  
  
I hadn't mentioned to either of them WHY exactly Rurutip wanted me. Only that he had heard me sing and wanted to take me with him. I thought it would be easier for them to know that I WASN'T being taken away from my home, my family, and my life to lie on my back.  
  
I gasped just then into Dad's ear and he turned around to glare at the large shadow blocking our doorway.  
  
Slowly I cleared my throat. "Rurutip."  
  
He merely grunted and looked at me meaningfully. I nodded slowly, kissed my parents good bye, scooped up my back pack and followed Rurutip out the door.  
  
Hell, I suppose I was lucky he even GAVE me time to say goodbye...  
  
I couldn't bare to look back, so I envisioned my parents standing in the light of the open door, it's soft hue spilling out onto our night-darkened lawn, holding each other tightly as their only baby was whisked away into space.  
  
I'd like to have believed that they were okay, after this. That they didn't begin to hate the Saiya-jinn anymore than usual, or do something stupid because of this and get themselves hurt... or killed.   
  
As far as I know, they're still alive.  
  
You see, that was the last time I ever saw them.  
  
When I stepped outside, Rurutip -without warning - hefted me over one shoulder and flared his ki, zipping off into the sky. I squeaked like a kitten and then was too shocked to make any more sound as I saw the ground fall away beneath me.  
  
My whole world just shrunk until all that was left was me, Rurutip, and the vast cloudless starry sky above us.  
  
I grew cold in the chilly upper atmospheric air and began to shiver. Perhaps it wasn't only the cold that made me tremble, but Rurutip said, "You're cold?" and I merely agreed. No weakness in front of an enemy, remember?   
  
He shifted me in mid-air and slung me around so our chests were touching. I buried my face in his large chest and locked my hands around his neck in a death grip.  
  
"I won't drop you." he grunted, and I felt his voice vibrate my chest. "Do you think I would go to all the trouble of getting you, only to drop you?"   
  
I merely whimpered.  
  
"Shut up." he growled in response. "I hate it when you make that sound."  
  
I swallowed heavily, enjoying at least marginally his warmth, and said nothing and did nothing until I finally felt my feet touch solid ground. Then I collapsed into a bone-less pile on the hard-packed turf.  
  
Rurutip glared at me, then gestured with a finger as he walked off, obviously wanting me to follow. I looked around me, and many other Saiya-jinn warriors leered back. I decided very quickly to do as I was told, and scuttled after my new master, beating down the need to grab his tail so I wouldn't loose him in the crowd.   
  
He'd kill me if I did.  
  
He ducked into a very large tent and with a wave of his hand, told me to stay by the entrance. I did so, clutching desperately to the strap of my back pack.  
  
Rurutip approached a very large, very bald man, and they began to speak in Saiyago. I had learned the rudiments of the language in school, and so was able to pick up a few important words.  
  
Rurutip's name, the name of the commander, Nappa, and a few other important words. Fight. Girl. Slave. Ship return. Vejiita-sei.   
  
Oddly enough, I didn't hear any of the words for death.  
  
Did you know that the inuit have over 50 words for "snow"? Not such a remarkable fact when you begin to learn Saiyago. 15 words for "death". 27 for "fight". But not one for "love".  
  
Talk about your prioritized languages.  
  
I grew very very nervous when I realized that Nappa had begun staring at me. I thought I was going to keel over when he smiled and licked his lips, and had to fight the freak -out instinct.  
  
Rurutip frown at the larger man, stalked over to me and grabbed me around the waist, hauling me off of my feet and out into the camp once more before I could so much as voice a protest. After a few minutes of bumping against his rather hard thigh, I finally spoke up.  
  
"I do have feet, you know."  
  
Rurutip paused only long enough to slap my face and tell me to shut the hell up. Stung, I clinched my lips together, and dug my nails into his hand.   
  
We marched up the gangway of some big metallic ship, and he all but threw me into the dark corner of a light-less room on one of the upper levels of the saucer-shaped machine.  
  
"Stay put. I"ll come for you after I've overseen the take off, understand?" I nodded mutely. "Good. Stay quiet."  
  
I nodded again and he left, the door hissing shut behind him.  
  
As soon as the metal closed, I buried my face in my knees and wept.  
  
***  
  
It was in that position, my breath coming in sobs, my back hitching, that Rurutip found me almost an hour later.  
  
He glared that patented glare of his at me when the door slid back and I glared defiantly back, the salt-water glistening on my cheeks in the light that streamed from the doors. "Get up." he snarled and I pulled myself to my feet.  
  
He spun on his heel and stalked down the corridor. "Come!"  
  
I took a deep breath and numbly shuffled down the hall after him. For a while I stayed a few steps behind him, but he slowed his pace and walked beside me, one hand close to, but not quite touching my arm.  
  
After a few silent minutes, he sighed and put his hands on my shoulders. I looked at my feet demurely, sorrowfully, and he forced my chin up.  
  
"I don't want a doll." he snapped with a rage that I didn't see coming. "If I had known you were going to do nothing but cry like a child, I'd have left you behind!"  
  
I blanched and pulled back a bit. Then I got really really mad. "Then why didn't you?!" I screamed and he smiled.  
  
"There. That's more like it."  
  
Furiously, I wiped the cuffs of my sleeves along my cheeks. Then I balled my hands into fists and tried to punch him. I was so angry I didn't care if I hurt myself, I didn't even care if he hit me back! Or killed me!  
  
"You sonofabitch!" I shrieked when he caught my fist in his own huge palm. "I hate you! I hate you!"  
  
He snarled at me to "Shut up!" and lifted me by the collar of my shirt. I glared back at him as best as I could. "It's your fire I like." he all but growled at me. "But if you DARE to speak to me like that again, I WILL make you regret it, is that clear?!"  
  
Intimidated, I could only swallow heavily, the tears welling in my eyes once more.  
  
He took it as a 'yes.'  
  
"Hai." he said, almost to himself, and dropped me to my feet and all but yanked me along the corridor by my shirt, then shoved me in a door. "These are my rooms." he said, releasing me so violently that I stumbled and had to catch myself on the edge of a chair. "If I were you, I wouldn't leave them unless I were with you. Understand?"  
  
I only stared at where the chair had been before I knocked it over.   
  
He growled and pointed to the door on the left. "That's the bathing room. Clean yourself up, then go get some real clothes on." he then pointed to the door to the right of this room, which held a small table and some chairs, and a few portholes and computer consoles with large screens.  
  
"I will return soon, and I expect you to be clean, do you understand, Ningen?" I looked up at my 'name', and met his dark eyes.  
  
"Hai." I whispered.  
  
"Good." he said, pleased, and turned to go back out. "Watashi no okiniiri."  
  
***  
  
At the time I didn't know what he had said. I found out later that he had called me, "My Pet."  
  
Pet. Nothing more than a pet.  
  
***  
  
Sighing heavily, I wearily climbed to my feet and shuffled into the room on the left. The doors slid open for me, and I dropped my bag on the outside of the door, and stepped in.  
  
There were no lights, and I groped along the side of the wall, looking for some sort of switch. I found none and began to wonder if Saiya-jinn did EVERYTHING in the dark. Then, feeling extremely foolish, I said, "Um... Lights?"  
  
The lights immediately flooded the room with brilliance.  
  
Well, all hail Gene Roddenberry.  
  
There was a shower-thingy on one side of the room, along with a small pool (small as in, could fit only ten or so full grown Saiya-jinn), a towel shelf and some capped bottles. On the other side was a basin, a very blue-tinted mirror, and something that vaguely resembled a toilet.  
  
Resigned to my fate, and deciding that if I was going to scream and kick and fight Rurutip at every step, I might as well been clean when I did it. I peeled my clothes off, which admitantly had seen better days. Already they had survived freezing air, dusty ground, rubbing up against soiled, bloody armour, and dark corners and floors.  
  
I wondered if I should bring them into the pool with me, but decided against it. I'd clean them later.  
  
I picked the warmest, fluffiest looking towel and put it down besides the steps and slid into the water after testing it with my toe. It wasn't too hot, but it was a little warmer than I usually liked.  
  
Oh well.  
  
The side was smoothed down and there were little crevasses just big enough to cradle a thick Saiya-jinn neck. It fit my whole head.  
  
I forced myself to relax, to unknot, and began to breathe evenly. Calm, control, rational thinking. That's what was going to keep me alive. Obedience, subservience, acceptance.  
  
I was in space now. I was a million light years from home, as far as I knew. My ties to Earth had been brutally severed, and I HAD to come to terms with the fact that I would never become what and who I wanted to.  
  
This was a new life. I was a new person.   
  
And silently, deep down inside, I grieved for the old me.  
  
She was dead. The only one alive now was "Ningen", "okiniiri". The foreigner. The pet.  
  
She was the only one that mattered now.  
  
She was the one that had to survive.  
  
***  
  
  
After indulging in self-pity for a while, and viciously re-arranging my thoughts and feelings, I decided I better get clean, get dressed, and get out before Rurutip got back from... where ever it was that he was.  
  
I began to think as I worked the water through my strands of mousey-brown hair... was Rurutip in command of this ship? Is that why he kept leaving to 'oversee' things?  
  
I turned around tp cling to the edge of the pool and peer at the bottles lining the shelves. Not a damn label on any of them.  
  
So how was I to know if any of it was soap, or soft drinks, or poison?  
  
"You want this one." a gruff voice behind me said, and I yelped and spun around, hands whipping out to cover the essentials.  
  
Rurutip stood on the edge of the pool pointing at a green bottle.  
  
When I did not move to take it, his smirk grew. "Ashamed of your body, Ningen?"  
  
"Yes... n-no." I glared at him. "I DO have a sense of common modesty!"  
  
"Hai." he said, amused, and took the green bottle in hand. He grabbed my shoulder, leaning over the oddly scented rose-coloured water, and pulled my back against the edge of the bathing pool.   
  
He then cracked open the cap of the bottle and dumped it's contents over my head.  
  
My nose crinkled. "It stinks."  
  
He snorted and worked the goo into my hair. Surprisingly, it lathered up well, and I had to flick it away from my eyes.   
  
Deciding that only straight-forwardness would work with Rurutip, I asked, "Why are you back so soon?"  
  
He snorted again, his now-somehow-bare legs dipping into the pool beside me, on either side of my shoulders as he scrubbed. "Ne, I realized that you don't know where everything is yet. That, and those idiots in control of the ship can damn well fly it alone. I don't need to be at the command centre for another few hours, at least."  
  
"Oh." Was all I could say.  
  
"Hold your breath."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
I went under, and came up sputtering water and obscenities. "Damnit!" I snarled. "Give me more warning next time!" I turned to yell more, and realized that Rurutip was smirking back at me, wearing nothing but some very brief briefs.  
  
"Or else what?" he sneered.  
  
"Nothing" I said, immediately cowed, sinking into the water, hands still covering myself.  
  
"Hn." he smiled and slid into the water himself, his briefs magically floating up to the surface. I flushed violently and turned away from him.  
  
He pulled me close to his naked chest and began to work another bottle of smelly goo into my hair. I tried to keep distance between us, but the gentle movement of the water kept drifting us together.  
  
When Rurutip realized what I was doing, his chest began to rumble in a low chuckle, reverberating the water surrounding us. "Afraid of me?"  
  
I briefly thought of lying, and decided against it. He'd know if I were, anyway. "Yes."  
  
I felt him smile. "Why?"  
  
I sneered. "You're very very big and I'm very very small and I know exactly why you put me on this damned ship."  
  
There was an amused grunt from Rurutip and he floated back towards the edge of the pool while I submerged to work the crap out of my hair. When I surfaced, he held the bottle of green stuff out to me and turned his back to me, kneeling in the water so I could reach his head.  
  
I looked at him, looked at the bottle, considered smashing it over his head, then sighed, dumped goo in his wiry black hair and began to work it in.  
  
"It still stinks." I said.  
  
He grunted. "It smells like the forests of Vejiita-sei.... after a carcass has been left to rot for a month."  
  
I laughed and he went under to clear the suds from his head. When he came back up, I realized that his eyes were trained on my body.  
  
He had been peeking underwater!  
  
Immediately, I moved to cover myself again, humiliated, but he stayed my hands.   
  
"Don't be ashamed." he said slowly. "You're very small. Very attractive."  
  
I pulled out of his grasp and scrambled for the towel I had left nearby. He allowed this and merely shouted, "You may get dressed in the far room" as I scurried away, face red and ears burning.  
  
I snatched up my bag as I passed, only to have half of the contents fall out. I glared down at the open top, certain that I hadn't left it open, and realized why only half fell out. It was because the other half was already spread out on the table in the middle of the main room.  
  
Rurutip had already searched my bag.  
  
I felt violated. He hadn't trusted me? Or had he been curious?  
  
Then I realized something else: All my clothes were missing.  
  
Why would Rurutip take my clothes?  
  
I was about to shout through the door when I remembered that he had told me that I could change in the "Far room". Did that mean he had put my clothing in there?  
  
Rather than be called 'baka', I walked into the far room. It was a bedroom... I think.  
  
All that I saw that vaguely resembled a bed was a pile of pillows and blankets in a corner. There was a mirror and few shelves and closets, but this was all there was.  
  
I guess I wasn't really surprised that there was no bed, as Saiyans were said to be very animalistic creatures. I wondered if Rurutip turned in a circle three times before scratching his pillows and nesting.  
  
Curious, I peeked into each closet and onto each shelf. Spandex battle suits. Armour. Boots, gloves, gauntlets, scouters. Nothing I hadn't seen before.  
  
And not a scrap of my clothes. Not even so much as a thread.  
  
The closest thing I found to a garment that would fit me was a pale blue.... thing. It was hanging in a very small closet, alone, with matching slippers just about the right size for my feet.   
  
I shuddered to think that Rurutip had been planning this.  
  
I picked the material up off the bizarre hanger, and realized it was a tight fit, high-necked dress that tapered out into a full swirling skirt. There was more material than was necessary at the hem, as I discovered when I pulled it on, and I pondered at what I should do about it. Finally I flipped up over my arm.  
  
Then, feeling it acutely when I realized I was wearing no undergarments of any sort, I stepped out into the main room.  
  
Rurutip was seated at the small table (small table? I thought Saiya-jinn ate like elephants!), flipping through my sketch book and staring at my watercolours as if he couldn't figure out how the colour got from the colour pads to the paper. He picked up the brush, sniffed at it, then put it back down.  
  
When he heard the door hiss open, he looked up from my book and leered at me.  
  
Then he laughed.  
  
"What!?" I snarled. "You STOLE my other clothes!"  
  
He stood up and looked at me, the reached down to wrap the extra fabric around my waist. I realized that in doing this, one could shorten or lengthen the hem of the dress at will.  
  
"There." he smirked. "Baka no Ningen, can't even tie her own clothing?"  
  
"Shut up." I snapped and plopped down at the table.  
  
He stared at my back for a very long time, and I couldn't tell if he was angry or amused.  
  
Finally he joined me and I slumped lower in my seat, arms crossing over my chest.  
  
"Are you hungry?" he asked.  
  
I blinked, wondering why he was being so nice. He had washed me, but hadn't done anything more than leer. He had given me new - albeit, unwanted - clothes, and now he offered to get food for me. And I was certain I knew why.  
  
"If you want me to stop being mad at you, I won't. And trying to buy me off won't work either."  
  
He frowned deeply. "Fine, if you're not hungry, then I'll eat alone."  
  
"N-no." I said quickly, my stomach rumbling at the mere mention of food. I realized I hadn't eaten at all that day. I'd been too scared. "I'm sorry."  
  
He smirked, triumphant, and pushed a button on a nearby computer panel with his tail.   
  
"Hai, wagakimi?" a voice piped into the room.  
  
"Bring me food."  
  
"Hai."  
  
Rurutip turned his eyes back to me, and I self-consciously covered my chest, feeling very naked without a bra.  
  
"Bodikon" he said softly to himself, looking me up and down. "Kannouteki." He read my puzzled expression and repeated in English, "That garment shows off your attributes. I like it." He smiled evilly. "Eat well, little okiniiri. Desert will be exhausting."  
  
I whimpered low in my throat, and was glad when he didn't seem to notice as the food had arrived.  
  
***  
  
I watched with fascination, picking at the remains of my strange meal with what appeared to be a fork as Rurutip all but licked his plate clean... his ninth plate.  
  
"Are you sure you aren't hungry?" he asked again, indicating the bread-like crunchy stuff.  
  
"Yes." I said softly. I looked around the room, not getting up. I don't know what the etiquette around Saiya-jinn was, but at home you didn't leave the table until everyone was finished eating.  
  
I peered intently at the window, watching the stars fly past. Very Star-Trekian.  
  
I wondered how far away from Earth we were.  
  
Rurutip followed my line of sight, and from there probably my line of thought. "We're about five hours away from Chikyuu." he said, voice low. "We have a week's journey ahead of us."  
  
I turned my eyes back to him, blinking back the tears of bitterness I felt.   
  
I was supposed to have had this great life. I had it all planned out, and I knew exactly where I was going to go for school and work, what sort of house I would live in, I had even picked out the colour of my bedroom.  
  
I felt so cheated.  
  
And here I was, watching a man eat whom I knew would force me into that nest of a bed of his before the day was out, wearing virtually nothing, my life shattered around my bare ankles.  
  
I sighed. I suppose it could have been worse.   
  
I could have been alone, cold, and hungry.  
  
"A week," I echoed numbly. "And then what?"  
  
Rurutip shrugged. "We will arrive in time for the annual Warriors Festival. We will stay for that, present our cargo for the King, and then perhaps the King will give my crew and I a small hiatus. If not, we will be sent to another outpost for Collecting."  
  
"Collecting?"  
  
"Hai." he smirked, settling back into his chair. I shifted in my own, my feet dangling above the ground. I simply was too small for the Saiya-jinn world. "Minerals. Water. Information. Technology." something warm and furry brushed past my ankles, and I jumped. "Slaves."  
  
I gulped down my fear and resolved to stay still as his tail wandered up my legs.  
  
I was here, now. I had to abandon my Human Morals and Ideology if I was going to survive in this world.  
  
"So I'm a slave. A mission for the King." I said slowly.  
  
"No." Rurutip leered. "You're a distraction that became profitable."  
  
"Oh."  
  
His tail wrapped around my waist, and all of a sudden I found myself dangling in the air. "Kami!" I shrieked and flailed, knocking over my chair and empty plate. "Put me down!"  
  
"Hai, watashi no okiniiri." he smiled and stood, walking towards the bedroom as I screamed and clawed at his tail. He dropped me onto the 'nest' and I sprang immediately to my feet. He pushed me back down. "Now," he said calmly as he peeled away his armour. "This is the way it works. You stay very still, and I won't make you do anything. You don't even have to touch me if you don't want to."  
  
I nodded slowly, eyes welling with the bitter tears that I could no longer keep back.   
  
"But if you fight me, I swear I'll tie you down." I squeaked and nodded again. "And if you want to participate, I won't stop you."  
  
He kicked off his boots and pulled away his fighting suit. Then he applied his hands to my strangely folded dress and with a few tugs, it was gone. I shivered and pulled my legs and arms up, and Rurutip pulled my wrists away and trapped my legs with his knees.  
  
I screwed my eyes shut and lay very still.  
  
He titled his head to the side and his eyes swept over me. "Kirei." he said. "You're all woman... but you're so very tiny." I felt his breath tickle my shoulder. "I have to be careful with you. Your face is still bruised from earlier. And I barely hit you."  
  
I said nothing.  
  
"Look at me." he said, his voice a rumbling growl. Slowly, afraid to defy him, I pried open my eyes.   
  
Then my eyes widened. "Wow." I breathed, and Rurutip chuckled. What a body. That armour didn't do him justice.   
  
I wiggled a little, nervous. He was so big, he COULD kill me. And I hadn't even gotten up the nerve to look down... there.  
  
He laughed again as my cheeks flushed.  
  
"Little guujin." he said, his lips dipping to graze against my neck. "I will have to be VERY careful with you. You are going to test my control." I wiggled again, sorta complimented. "But first," he breathed, "Sing for me."  
  
I let forth a little squeak. "What?"  
  
He frowned, no longer playful. "Must I tie you down?"  
  
"Well, no." I said slowly. What good would that do, anyway? I was pinned. "But, sing? Now?"  
  
"Yes." he snapped. "Why do you think I brought you here?!"  
  
I glared at him meaningfully, and he shoved himself away distastefully. "I could have abducted any whore off the street if I wanted that!" he snarled at me, face reddening. I winced and cowered, pulling a blanket around myself, clutching it tightly.   
  
He was about to get up and leave when I put a hand on his shoulder and stopped his movements. He let forth a small irritated hiss, and I swallowed, trying to wet my fear-parched throat.   
  
What choice did I have? Not sing and either die, or be sold off to some scumbag for god-knows-what because I didn't co-operate.  
  
At least I felt I could trust Rurutip, even if he didn't see me as anything more than a pet. If I let him leave, Kami only knows where I could end up.   
  
And I'd rather be here, with someone I know, even if I don't like him, than alone in a hostile universe.  
  
"I was only surprised." I said softly. "I didn't think you wanted... interruptions."  
  
He narrowed his dark eyes and glared back over his shoulder at me, tail flicking. I took a deep calming breath, opened my mouth, and tried to attain the purest, cleanest sound I could:  
  
Heart don't fail me now,  
Courage, don't desert me.  
Don't turn back, now that we're here.  
  
People always say,   
"Life is full of choices."  
How come no one mentions ... fear?  
  
Or how the world can seem so vast...  
On a journey, to the past...  
  
I never got further than that.  
  
Rurutip was actually cuddled up beside me, his tail swaying and a deep contented rumble emerging from his deep chest. He was purring.  
  
So the old idiom is true, music DOES calm the savage beast.  
  
"Perfect." he breathed into my ear.  
  
"Far from it." I answered snidely. "If I were standing I could support the sound, and if I had had the chance to warm up I could havbbbmph!"  
  
The rest of my tirade was muffled by Rurutip's mouth as he thrust his tongue down my throat, purring still. I gagged and pushed against his chest vainly.  
  
I felt his lips smile against mine and pull away. "Your mouth is warm now." he said softly, teasing. "Sing more. Finish."  
  
I scrunched my forehead and glared at him. He merely smirked and ran his fingers through my fine hair, lifting the strands and letting them fall back down as if he found them hypnotizing.  
  
Fine then. I'll sing the whole damn song.  
  
Somewhere down this road,  
I know some one's waiting.  
Years of dreams just can't be wrong!  
  
Arms will open wide.   
I'll feel safe... and wanted.  
Finally home, where I belong!  
  
Well, starting now,   
I'm learning fast.  
On this journey, to the past...  
  
After I had finished that stanza, I had realized I'd reversed the order of the lyrics, but a quick glance at Rurutip told me that he couldn't tell.  
  
Those words had just wanted to come out. Finally home where I belong... Did that mean that I wanted to ... no. I shoved the thought away.   
  
EARTH was my home. Rurutip was my master. And my life was destroyed.  
  
This is a new journey, yes. And this might be the right direction, true. But this NOT a home.  
  
I concentrated hard on forgetting what I had lost and focusing on the here and now, on what I had in front of me, on my new future. I'd been trying hard, so very hard, all evening... and I wasn't succeeding.  
  
I had grown up in a human culture. That wasn't going to be banished in two nights.  
  
But I had to try. I had to realize that there was nothing left to me. This was all I had. This was all I was ever going to have. Detached rationalism is what would preserve me.  
  
So why was it so damn hard to do?!  
  
The feel of a battle-calloused palm against my cheek brought me back to myself, and I jumped slightly when I realized that I was staring directly into Rurutip's eyes.  
  
I let out a hiss of breath as I realized two things: first, his eyes were not the deep, cold black I had originally thought they were, but a dark ashy brown, Second: that it was freaking freezing in here!  
  
I shivered violently, and Rurutip studied my face. "Are you still frightened, Ningen?" he asked in a low tone, "After all my reassurances and promises not to hurt you?" I looked down at my nude body miserably. He followed my gaze as I fought to keep my teeth from chattering. He seemed to smile to himself. "You are cold."  
  
I only nodded, and he folded me into his arms, pulling my naked skin flush against his own. I felt heat pulse from his body into mine and he asked, "Better?"  
  
"M-hmmm..." I sighed.  
  
"Good." He breathed, and began to caress the shell of my ear with his tongue.  
  
I shivered under the assault and remained still, biting my bottom lip as his hands left my shoulders to slide down my back, the heat from his ki energy loosening my muscles to the point that it almost felt like a massage.  
  
Nothing to do but let him. Fighting would only make it worse.  
  
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, revelling in the strange warm sensation, and was only marginally surprised when I felt Rurutip's lips, teeth, and tongue graze across the newly exposed flesh.  
  
From there he lowered the both of us onto the nest of pillows and began to do some delightfully enjoyable things to my skin. Little kisses and nips graced every bare patch he could find, and I squirmed, laughing when he found a ticklish spot or two.  
  
He lifted his head from where he had been tasting the flushed skin on the underside of one of my breasts with a curious glance.  
  
"You're doing it too softly." I managed to giggle in response to his silent question. "It tickles."  
  
He smirked and became more aggressive, biting more than kissing, and when his teeth closed a little too hard on my nipple, a little yelp escaped my lips.  
  
He looked at me again, licking his lips. I realized that he was slurping up the blood he had spilled. My breast throbbed in pain and I scrunched up my face in the effort not to cry.  
  
He cursed under his breath and folded me up in his arms, rocking back onto his knees. "Damnit. Too hard, too soft. Picky little bitch."  
  
I whimpered against his shoulder when he pulled me so close that our chests pressed together and the wound was stretched open, and he growled in warning. I remembered that he hated me when I whined and I bit my lip extra hard to silence myself.  
  
He then leaned down and bit the tip of my nose lightly and covered my mouth with his. I merely closed my eyes and relaxed my jaw so he could explore my mouth with his tongue.  
  
My skin had begun to tingle, the stimulation starting to become too much as his hands began to explore some more sensitive areas. The blood oozing from my chest dribbled hotly between us.  
  
I shuddered against him and began kissing back when his fingers lighted on what was soon to become my favourite spot.  
  
Then, without warning, I was shoved back and Rurutip pressed himself between my legs, pulling my hips up over his thighs. I screwed my eyes shut when he growled very low in his throat and thrust forward, slamming himself into me.   
  
I wailed when I felt the hymen tear and tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes, but Rurutip ignored it, his hands and face busy in other areas.  
  
I took a deep breath and tried to pace myself with him, but it was hard because Rurutip kept moving faster and harder. Then I began to feel a strange sensation build up inside of me and I realized that I was going to climax soon.  
  
Damn it! My body was ENJOYING this?!  
  
When it finally did come, I fisted my hands into pillows and sheets beneath me, screamed and trembled all over, and then I went limp, but Rurutip continued. He hadn't finished yet.  
  
So I remained still, shuddering in the aftermath of my orgasm, waiting for him to reach his, fighting the urge to 'participate'.  
  
He laughed and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Oh, how delicious. Do it again, Ningen."  
  
I couldn't stand not touching him any more and I leaned up and pressed my lips against his. He paused for a second, surprised, then hungrily kissed back, rhythm resuming, only so hard I thought he'd break my hip bones.  
  
The tears squeezed out from the corners of my eyes and I broke away from his mouth to snap my head back. "Too hard..." I whined and he snarled.  
  
"Shut up." he snapped. "You'll survive."  
  
I shrieked again when he shoved me back down onto the pillows, hands bruising my shoulders as his tail slithering up and down my legs.  
  
It must have been almost half an hour before Rurutip actually climaxed. Somehow that son of a bitch timed it so I did it at the same time, and when he had finished, we both lay in the damp sheets, tangled in each other's limbs and hair.  
  
"Rur–ru-.." I panted, trying to push him off of me. He was heavy, and crushing me. "Ru..." I began to panic. "Air. Please... Ruru...ru.."  
  
He looked down at me stupidly then lifted himself away. "Stupid bitch. Why did you scream so much? My ears are ringing. Did you think I was going to kill you?"  
I scrambled away, humiliated and in pain, tucking myself into a corner. I grabbed a pillow and clutched it, wrapping a blanket around my bruised and naked self. He looked at me for a very long time, then sighed heavily.  
  
"If you're hurt, we should take you to the med labs." he said slowly, and stood.  
  
I shook my head frantically, not wanting to move at all.  
  
"Damn it!" he snarled at me. "You think I'm just going to let you sit there and bleed to death?!"  
  
I merely glared back. He threw up his hands and yanked me up to my feet, slung me over his shoulder, stalked across his rooms, and dropped me into the water in the bathing pool.  
  
"Clean off the blood and I'll patch you up myself." He snarled and walked out, still naked as the day he had been born.  
  
I watched him leave with a heavy heart, then reached for something that vaguely resembled soap.  
  
I knew that this night was only a sample of what I was to expect for the rest of my life.  
  
I could only pray that it wouldn't always end with me exhausted pain.  
  
***  
END PART TWO 


	3. Vejiita-sei

"Ningen -- 3"  
--by Vega  
  
  
When we touched down on Vejiita-sei, I had figured out that Rurutip was at least the Captain of his little Squad of ten or so Saiya-jinn, if not higher up in the hierarchy.  
  
He had told me rather sternly earlier that morning that I must clean up and dress with extra care that day. For once, he tied the dress around my waist with so little extra hanging down my side that the hem actually touched the floor and hid my feet. If I wasn't the suspicious type, I'd swear it was because he didn't want any other Saiya-jinn to ogle my legs.  
  
He even instructed me to tie up my fine mousy-brown hair in a particular manner, so that it looked fuller and higher piled a top my head. I wondered why until I looked at myself in that odd blue-tinted mirror he had. It made me look almost Saiyan.   
  
I shuddered when I realized this and asked if I could undo it, but he steadfastly refused, stating that I'd be better off to blend in. After a few minutes of thought and the recollection of the looks on the faces of every Saiya-jinn male who had ever looked at me, I decided that Rurutip was right.  
  
Ningen attract attention.  
  
Rurutip made me stay at his side, head down and hands folded demurely in front of me, as he barked orders to his Squad to unload the cargo they had collected on Earth and carry it into the palace where it was to be inspected by the King.  
  
I was glad to see that there were no slaves included with said cargo, for it would have made me feel just awful to know that while I had spent the last week in half-decently lazy luxury (if you can call looking over one's shoulder every five seconds to see if Rurutip was there to screw me blind 'luxury') they had wallowed in cages or some such ilk.  
  
Then Rurutip, with that familiar wave of his tail, ordered me to follow him into the main audience chambers.  
  
Now, having thought the Saiya-jinn were nothing more than bestial asses whose civilization prospered on the stolen knowledge of others, I was genuinely awestruck to see how beautiful the palace itself was.  
  
I let forth a little squeal of delight as we passed the open doors of a mammoth library, and my eyes welled with tears when they lighted upon the finely-detailed sculptures of their warrior-heros and the legends and beliefs of their culture that had been recorded for history in delicate stain-glassed windows.  
  
Rurutip shot me a look that said to shut the Hell up, stop staring, and keep walking. I did everything but stop staring. I couldn't help it!  
  
We entered the King's main audience chambers, and I wasn't surprised to find the cliche red carpet, vaulted ceilings with high, pointed arches, and a throne on a five-stepped dias.  
  
On that throne was King Vejiita. Vejiita-ou, in Saiyago. He made one hell of a dominant figure, I'll tell you that much. I had to remind myself to breathe.  
  
I trembled at Rurutip's side as we approached the throne, and I followed his smooth movements as he placed one knee on the floor, resting his elbow on the other as he pressed a fist to the carpet. I tried to do the same, and couldn't quite keep my balance.  
  
Thankfully, we didn't stay in that position for long, and I stood as quickly as possible and stepped closer to Rurutip as I felt the King's eyes on me.  
  
Rurutip had told me explicitly not to look the King in the face, and I had to fight not to. All I could see from my perifrial vision was the vague outline of a goatee and wild up-swept hair.  
  
Rurutip told me with a gesture to remain where I was as he stepped up to list off the quantities of each of the resources he and he crew had collected, and my eyes jumped around the room, glancing curiously at all the different races and aliens I saw.  
  
Not one was anything close to a Chikyuu-jinn.  
  
I was relieved when Rurutip finished and stepped back to stand with me. I had to keep myself from grabbing his hand, for I was simply terrified of the aura of silent menace that permeated the room.  
  
There was a lot of hostility in there, and I felt as if most of it was being directed at me. Of course, that was silly, it wasn't. But as a weak little nothing, it still FELT like it.  
  
Just as we were about to go, the King stood and looked directly at me.  
  
"Warrior." he said, and Rurutip froze. "There is yet one prize you have not presented to me." He gestured in my direction, and I felt my knees go weak.   
  
Rurutip cursed under his breath and answered: "Hai, wagakimi." He took me forcefully by the arm, and I was lead, stumbling in fear, to stand directly at the foot of the King's dias. "This is a Chikyuu-jinn captive. She is now my personal slave."  
  
The King stroked his goatee thoughtfully, rose from his seat and came down the steps towards me. I fought the fight-or-flight instinct and stood my ground, my feet anything but firm, my resolve less so.  
  
But as it had been with Rurutip on Earth, I was determined not to loose face in front of the King of the Captors of Chikyuu-sei.  
  
"A Chikyuu-jinn female, eh?" he said slowly, circling around behind me to -I was certain- check out my 'package'. He came back around and stared me directly in the face, "Dochirasama?"  
  
I blinked, and looked at Rurutip desperately. I hadn't learned that word yet. The King snarled and I snapped my eyes back to him. He raised one eyebrow in an aggravated manner.   
  
"Well?" he snapped. "Are you!?"  
  
It took me a second to realize that he was asking me if I really was from Earth, and I finally stuttered. "Yes..." then of course I realized I should have said "Hai." and corrected myself.  
  
He scowled darkly at me, and I fought back the waves of darkness and blinking lights before my eyes that would have constituted a dead faint. No. NO fear in front of an enemy!  
  
He snarled and turned his eyes to Rurutip. "I don't understand your fascination, warrior. She's worthless. Graceless, stupid... she's not even physically attractive."  
  
Rurutip looked at me meaningfully, and I gulped, realizing what he was going to ask me to do.  
  
"No, my lord." he responded. "Not at first, but she is in possession of a great talent."  
  
The King looked back at me with a half-bored "oh?" and I felt the eyes of the entire court turn in my direction.  
  
"Hai." Rurutip continued. "Show your King, Ningen."  
  
I nodded dutifully. Then I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and sang.  
  
Midnight...  
Turn your face to the moon light.  
Let the memory lead you.  
Open up, enter in...  
  
If you find there,   
the meaning of what 'happiness' is...  
  
Then a new life,   
can begin...  
  
The sound was the purest, sweetest soprano I could make it, and I was proud to say that my voice hardly quivered.  
  
But when I opened my eyes and looked around the hall, I nearly fainted. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, looked like they had just seen me bring someone back from the dead, or something. That, or I had just spontaneously grown an extra head, and no one had bothered to tell me about it.  
  
Rurutip had been right. My music was unique out here.  
  
The next sound to break the silence was an un-amused and un-impressed snort that came from the general direction of the Throne. My eyes darted in that direction, and found the source. A younger man than the King -perhaps in his late twenties- but one who bore a striking resemblance.  
  
This must have been Vejiita-Ouji, the Prince.  
  
"Laughable." he sneered, arms crossed arrogantly across his front, chest out and feet planted firmly. "Pitiful. No natural beauty, look, she can't even stand up straight." I straightened my posture self consciously, deciding then and there that I REALLY hated this guy. My posture was perfect! I'd been singing for years!  
  
"And no tail. Useless." he smirked. "What good is she? Too weak to even put a decent fight."  
  
I clenched my teeth together and sucked in a breath, deciding now would not be a good time to get angry. How dare he say such things about me?!  
  
True, I ain't no super model, and I'm sure as hell no where near a Saiyan's fighting level, but I'm NOT pitiful and useless!  
  
"Not impressed?" the King turned to glare stonily at his son, and the Prince met his gaze with ice. Then the elder Vejiita returned his gaze to me, then up to Rurutip. "Perhaps it would be in our best interest to discover why this second class Squad Captain finds such a worthless female worth hiding from his King, Ne?"  
  
My eyes jerked up, wide with fear, at the King's next words.  
  
"She's yours for the night, Ore no Gaki." and he exited the hall in a swirl of cape.  
  
I swallowed heavily and couldn't rip my eyes away from the Prince, who curled his lip in distaste, then stomped off himself, muttering dark obscenities under his breath.  
  
Then I snapped my head around to Rurutip, silently begging him to do or say something to prevent this.  
  
He merely turned his face away, and left me to the guard who came forward to wrap hands around my arms and lead me away, eyes wide and horrified tears streaming down my pale cheeks.  
  
They may as well have been dragging me off to be hanged.  
  
***  
  
I sat fearfully in the middle of a bed large enough to hold Rurutip's entire Squad and beat down the instinct to hide.   
  
These were the Prince's chambers. He'd find me fast enough.  
  
I didn't have any illusions about how many others he'd must have had in this same bed... or of how many he must've killed.  
  
When the great huge doors hissed back, I looked up to find Vejiita-Ouji staring at me disdainfully.   
"Stupid bitch." he snapped at me. "Why the hell do I have to deal with you?"  
  
I almost answered, then realized he wasn't talking to me at all. He didn't even see me worth talking to.  
  
Without any warning, Vejiita simply lunged across the bed and tore the beautiful dress Rurutip had gifted me with to dangling shreds, exposing my body to his cruel gaze.  
  
I shuddered and resolved not to be terrified... or at least not to show it.  
  
He shoved me violently back and peeled away his own clothes and shoved himself right into me, no sense of foreplay or enjoyment whatsoever.  
  
I screamed at his forced entry, as my body had been completely unprepared, and he slapped me across the face.   
  
"Shut the fuck up." he snapped, and I bit my lip to stay silent as he moved.  
  
And as soon as it had begun, only a few long minutes later, he was out, off and away from me.  
  
And that was it.   
  
Just as he stepped out the door I heard him mutter, "Worthless."   
  
***  
  
It was nearly an hour after that before I could move without the pain racing up my insides.  
  
Rurutip had been ordered to "Go collect your trash." and he came into the room, a mask of emotionless detachment on his face as he scooped me up, dropped a blanket over my freezing and throbbing body, and marched out the door.  
  
He didn't put me down 'till he had walked all the way back to his ship.   
  
I looked at him in askance as we walked up the gangway, and he said, "We're being sent to Yadrat-sei."  
  
When we reached his chambers, he took me directly to the bathing pool and slipped into the rosy water with me, clothes and all.   
  
The warm water felt soothing and I relaxed, sighing, swallowing back the bitter tears of pain.  
  
He then -keeping me above water by an arm around my shoulders, under my own arms- removed the arm that had been hooked under my knees to glare at some reddish splotches on his hand.  
  
It took me a few seconds to realize he was staring at blood.  
  
My blood.  
  
I gasped, not realizing that the Prince had done that.  
  
"Damn arrogant ass nearly tore you in half." Rurutip hissed, and I stared up at him in numb wonder.  
  
Then I pelted him across the face with a fist.  
  
It didn't hurt Rurutip, obviously, but it sure as hell made me feel a lot better.  
  
He looked at me, eyes wide, blinking, not believing that I had just done that.  
  
He let my shoulders go angrily, and I pulled myself weakly over to the ledge. It still hurt too damn much to even kick in the water.  
  
"How..." I said slowly, voice low, as much menace as I could thrown into the venomous words. My nails scratched against the smooth surface of the ledge as I fought to remain erect. "How could you?!"  
  
"Nani?!" he growled in return.   
  
"How could you let them do that to me?!" I snapped. My reason snapped. My mind snapped. "HOW?!" I screamed.  
  
Rurutip slapped me. I tried to slap him back and he caught my pathetic little fists in his own.  
  
"Listen!" he hissed, but I refused to.  
  
"You abandoned me! You almost let him kill me!" I shrieked, over and over, fighting with everything I had as he pulled me against his immovable body to keep me still. "I thought I MEANT something to you!"  
  
"Stop fighting me!" he snarled. "If you continue to move, you'll kill yourself!"  
  
I paused and glanced around me at the once-rosy water. It was crimson red.  
  
He was right, the more I struggled, the worse my wounds became.  
  
It hurt!  
  
"Now, listen." he said calmly. So annoyingly calm. "There was nothing I could do. You belong to me, therefore you belong to the King, his to do with as he sees fit, understand?"  
  
I nodded slowly, ashamed as the silent tears of physical and emotional pain began to roll down my flushed cheeks. Rurutip watched as the tears fell to mingle in the water below with a tiny 'splush'.  
  
He touched my cheek gently and said, "I hate it when you make that damn whimpering sound."  
  
I shushed myself.  
  
"I would rather that the Prince hadn't tried to split you in two," Rurutip said slowly, "But there was nothing I could have done."  
  
Again, I only nodded.  
  
"But I am grateful that he has decided not to keep you. I enjoy your singing far too much."  
  
I looked up at him with awe and realized that this was probably as close to a "I care for you" that I was ever going to get from Rurutip.  
  
I knew for certain that he would never love me. He may never even like me. And I certainly would never be more than a pet to him.  
  
But perhaps, I mused silently, resting my head against his deep chest, perhaps someone to look after me was all I really needed in this hostile universe.  
  
And that's what Rurutip was.  
  
I don't know what happened next.   
  
The blood loss made me faint.  
  
***  
  
THE END. 


	4. Ore no Guujiin. Watashi no Oshichiya

"Ningen 2: Ore no Guujiin. Watashi no oshichiya"  
  
***  
  
[neemu] name  
[oshichiya] name-giving ceremony  
  
***  
On Yadrat-sei they had a ki techique known as 'Shouden Iou'.   
  
Instant teleportation.  
  
Rurutip was very mad when the Yadrat-jinn refused to teach it to him, and I'm sorry to admit that he took that anger out on me after blowing up the whole planet.  
  
There's a small scar on the back of the back of my neck, just below my hairline, from Rurutip's teeth, now.  
  
He was so upset when he returned to his chambers - furious, actually - that he didn't even warn me. He just tore me up from my seat by the waist, spilling my cup of water I had nestled my paintbrushes in all over the floor, and stormed into the bedroom.  
  
I yelped as he tossed me onto the pillows and slammed down and into me, so pissed that he just had to get rid of his adreniline somehow.  
  
I closed my eyes, leaned back into the pillows and relaxed, having learned almost immediately into the two week trip to Yadrat that to go limp and move with Rurutip was the best way to come out of one of these 'sessions' without needing a trip to the regeneration tanks.  
  
This time, though, he was more upset than usual, and therefore more agressive. The big asshole near tore me from navel to chin, and I spent the entire time screaming.  
  
After the first hour and a half I finally went horse, and was silent for the rest of it.  
  
At the end, after changing the possition more than once, he was on top, while I buried my bruised face in the pillows, stomach down, and shrieked in silent agony. When he did come, he howled so loudly I was surprised he didn't shatter the glass that held the vacuume of outer space at bay.  
  
He yanked himself away and stormed out of the room, leaving me sore, mute, and bleeding in more than one place. I was so weak from having climaxed more than once myself that I couldn't even move.  
  
All I could do was weep in exhausted agony, wondering if Rurutip would come back for me, or let me bleed to death where I was.   
  
I wondered if this was how his last concubine had died.  
  
I didn't know how long after that it was before he returned. My watch had been taken away from me a week earlier.  
  
I rejoiced with pathetic meekness when Rurutip came back into the room, cursing me for not having emerged yet.  
  
"Dammit!" he snarled as he strode in, once again dressed. "The fuck's the matter with you, girl? You're usually dressed by now!"  
  
He froze when he realized that I was lying in a pool of my own blood.  
  
"Shit!" he snarled and came over to peer at me. Then he snatched me up over his shoulder and stalked down the hall, snarling to himself as he went, but considerably less upset than before.  
  
Rurutip was in what I called his "after glow." Which is to say, he was feeling cuddly and protective.   
  
it was kinda funny, come to think of it. He was a clawed lion for all but twenty minutes of a day, and then he was fluffy purring kitten.  
  
It usually only lasted for twenty or so minutes after sex, and I had learned that this was the best time to ask him for anything.  
  
In the past I had successfully requested a new hairbrush and some other personal items. Paper was apparently hard to find out here in space, so I used up my sketch pad sparingly. I had more than one secret page hidden away in the pocket in the back cover of Rurutip sleeping.  
  
He'd tear them up and take away my watercolours if he knew I was drawing him asleep.  
  
This time however, the only thing I could think of asking for was a tank-sized aspirin. If I could have talked at all.  
  
However, the Saiya-jinn believe that any wound that won't kill you isn't worth treating, and that pain would only make a man stronger.  
  
Like Hell.  
  
Rurutip dumped me unceremoniously onto the floor of the re-gen tank and turned to frown at Flafa, the med technician, who hastily turned the sucker on and slipped the oxygen mask over my nose and mouth.  
  
Two hours later I pulled myself out of the jar, stiff and creaking at the joints. I smiled slightly at Flafa, who had remained here while Rurutip had gone to pummel a Squad member or two to get rid of the rest of his frustration.  
  
Falfa smirked back, handing me a long robe to cover up with.  
  
After two weeks of me being in that damned tank at least once every two days, Falfa was used to my 'eccentric' sense modesty.  
  
"Thanks." I muttered.  
  
"Whatever." he grinned back, taking in as much as he could before I covered it all up.  
  
"If Rurutip catches you peeking at his stuff," I teased, waggling my finger, "He'll slaughter you."  
  
Falfa shrugged non-commitedly and gestured to the door. "Better get back to his room before he does, guujiin. He'll be mad if you're not there when he returns."  
  
I sighed and nodded my thanks to Falfa and began to pad silently through the corridors to Rurutip's chambers.  
  
I passed the bubble windows as I walked, scratching at what I would soon learn was a fresh scar (the wound had been too deep to heal in the tank, so instead my body had made scar tissue),and happened to peer outside.  
  
What met my eyes was amazing.  
  
It was a floating city!  
  
While I had been unconscious, Rurutip had commanded the ship to the nearest space port! I had heard about these places from Falfa and Celik's conversations while they thought the chemicals in the goo had put me to sleep. Sometimes Falfa overestimated my 'Chikyuu-jinn weakness' and didn't put in enough sedative to knock me out completely while I healed.  
  
I pressed my hands against the cool plastic-glass and gazed with wide eyes at he multitude of blinking lights and little space pods and giant ships that zipped around in such close quarters, remembering Celik's words: "You can get anything there, Falfa! Dammit, I'm gonna find me a Chikyuu-jinn whore! I'm sick of listening to the captain and his pet scream all night, without some bitch to fuck myself."  
  
When I had heard those words at first, I had half smiled, suddenly glad (and not for the first time) that Saiya-jinn were such possessive creatures. Damn glad. Being Rurutip's pet I could handle. But being passed around Squad like a cheap joint didn't appeal to me in the least.  
  
When I heard footsteps approaching in the corridor from the direction of the main bridge, I turned quickly, pulling the neck of my dressing-gown close and preparing to bow. Rurutip had slapped me more than once for forgetting to bow to any Saiya-jinn warrior that passed me.  
  
After a two-day sore jaw, I haven't made the same mistake again.  
  
However, I DID pause a beat longer than I should have when I realized that it was not another Saiya-jinn Rurutip walked beside, but a very tall, very thin man with long emerald hair and soft powder-blue skin.  
  
Quickly I bent at the waist, hands still cinching together the fabric, and waited for the alien and Rurutip to continue on their way. When the feet in my field of view didn't move, I knew something was wrong.  
  
I raised my eyes slowly, and met the stranger's gold ones with apprehension. Then, to my complete and total surprise.... he smiled at me.  
  
In utter disbelief, I turned my gaze to Rurutip, who scowled back, and I gulped and turned back to the stranger.  
  
"Well, 'ello." he said amiably, and I nearly swallowed my teeth. "And who are you?"  
  
I looked back to Rurutip for a clue on how I should act here. Should I answer? I asked silently. The stranger caught this and laughed.   
  
"Oh, don't be afraid of me. I'm harmless." he chuckled, but the way Rurutip acted around him told me otherwise. Rurutip was tensed, rocked forward on the balls of his feet, his tail tight around his waist. He was ready for a fight if need be. And the stranger seemed to know this, and was not afraid of Rurutip, or his Squad, in the least.  
  
That meant he had to be either really powerful or really stupid.  
  
I was opting for the former.  
  
When I didn't answer, Rurutip spoke up. "She's mine."  
  
"Ah."the blue man said softly, "So this is the one I've heard about." he touched the top of my head gently and I pulled back, more out of instinct that fear. I knew that Rurutip wouldn't like it if I let him touch me. "I hear you caused quite the stir in King Vejiita's Throne Room a few weeks ago."  
  
Rurutip merely grunted.  
  
The man suddenly laughed. "I realise I haven't introduced myself." he said, as if we were knights and ladies in a medieval castle rather than a slave and two warriors. "I'm Zarbon." he said and inclined his head slightly. "And you are....?"  
  
After a moment's hesitation, I said "Ningen."  
  
He blinked at me, gave Rurutip a fish eye, then turned back to me, laughing. "That means 'foreigner' in Saiyago, doesn't it? No little one, what's your real name?"  
  
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, and then I realized that Rurutip was listening intently. I had never actually told him what my name was.  
  
I took a deep breath, looked Zarbon right in the eyes and said:  
  
"Maria."  
  
There. I had said it. Didn't even hurt.  
  
Zarbon seemed to ponder this, then said. "Mayra." stretching the 'i' into an oddly accented 'y' sound and shifting the position of the 'r'. "It rolls nicely. Very pretty. Well," he clapped his hands together, making a loud sound that startled me, making me jump, and rubbed his palms together briskly. "Come, Mayra. I've come to collect you. My master is having a victory celebration this evening, and requests your admirable talent to grace his honoured guests. Rurutip has put you on loan."  
  
Rurutip nodded when I looked to him for silent approval before I grinned. Well, whattdoya know? I'm a freaking intergalactic Brittany Spears. He took me by the shoulder and lead me down the halls to the door.  
  
"You're lucky, little girl." he said into my ear as we waited for the doors to open, my heart fluttering as I ran lyrics in my head. "You'll be the first Chikyuu-jinn to ever meet Lord Frieza."  
  
My heart sank to my feet when he added the words:  
  
"And probably the last."  
  
***  
  
"A Chikyuu-jinn slave isn't worth much out here." I heard someone whisper as Zarbon and I passed them in the main hall of the Spacestation. "I wonder what someone like Zarbon is doing with it?"  
  
"Maybe he needs a pansy just like himself!" another laughed in return.  
  
I felt Zarbon's steering grip on my shoulder tighten until I squeaked in pain, and he looked down at me, releasing my arm and staring at his hand as if he were surprised that it had caused any damage.  
  
"Will you still be able to preform?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes." I said dutifully, with a touch of sarcasm. "I don't necessarily need my shoulder intact." He sent me an apologetic look. We continued walking, but Zarbon seemed more alert and on edge than before. "You shouldn't let them bug you like that." I finally got he courage up to venture. "Who cares what they think? What does it matter?"  
  
Zarbon looked down at me with a surprised, grateful smile. "Yes. You are right."  
  
It was then that I realized with horror that, just like me, Zarbon was a slave. He must have been in the service of this Lord Frieza, just as I was of Rurutip, only Zarbon's power and strength must make people wary of him. That must have been why Rurutip acted so strangely around Zarbon. He hated that a slave was more powerful than he, for surely Rurutip wouldn't have let me leave the ship if Zarbon hadn't been.  
  
We reached a set of large doors on the far side of the market-like area, leaving behind the bars and brothels and trading areas, and stepped through into what appeared to be some sort of elevator.  
  
We rose, or fell, (I couldn't tell for there were no windows), for a few minutes before sliding what felt like sideways and finally hissing to a stop. Zarbon then lead me down a deserted, dimly lit hall and opened yet another unmarked door.  
  
"Get cleaned up, you reek of the re-gen tank gel." he said as he commanded the lights on and lead me towards something that vaguely resembled a hot tub. "The slaves will be in shortly to make you presentable." he leered down at my attire jovially. "After all, you can't meet the strongest being in the universe wearing only a robe."  
  
I blushed to the roots of my hair and watched with silent and wonder-filled eyes as he turned and stalked out, braid and cape fluttering after him.  
  
He had been the nicest person I had ever met outside of Earth's atmosphere, which was saying an awful lot considering we both knew that he was a planet-purging killer just like Rurutip.  
  
***  
  
I revelled in the feeling of the bubbling water around me when I stepped into the tub, and for once could relax in the water, not having to keep one eye open for Rurutip, to see if he was going to try to jump me while I was slippery and without clothing.  
  
One of his favourite things was to try to get at me while we were in his bathing pool. However, I'm small compared to him and the water makes it hard for him to get a good grip, so it always becomes more of a wrestling match than foreplay.  
  
Of course, with a Saiya-jinn, foreplay and fighting were practically the same thing.  
  
When the other women came in -most of them years older than I - I was modest for a while, until they laughed at me for hiding from them what they had themselves.  
  
I asked them about this Frieza guy, and they avoided the question. Okay, I thought, he must be that bad, huh?  
  
So I tried not to think about it anymore.  
  
***  
  
I was scared, I won't hide it.   
  
I was lead before a vast chamber of men and women -warriors- all seated, all with the remains of a meal before them.  
  
There was a man, a very short man, whom I wasn't sure was a man at all seated at the head of the horseshoe of tables. He had horns and black lipstick and a hovering chair.  
  
From the frigid look of his white skin, it didn't take me long to guess that this was Frieza.  
  
"My Lord." I said softly and did a very dramatic low Tudor-style bow, one foot pointed in front, and one hand out.  
  
He smiled approvingly, then turned to Zarbon. "What's this?" he rasped, licking his fingers of meat juice. I trembled.  
  
"The Chikyuu-jinn female." said the blue warrior on his right, smiling with pride. "The only one off her planet."  
  
"Ah yes." Frieza said slowly, "I seem to remember something about her having a strange voice. Good work Zarbon." He turned his cold violet gaze to me, and I swallowed hard, trying to lubricate my drying throat."Your name?"  
  
"Maria."  
  
"Mayra." he repeated in that strange accent of the non-Chikyuu-jinn.  
  
I bowed again.  
  
"What will you be preforming for me, my dear?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the table and resting his chin on laced fingers. The other soldiers around the large table all focussed on me.  
  
"I thought perhaps you would like to hear a story about a young girl named Wendy, who daydreamed all day long about never having to grow up." I began, reciting what I had preformed mere months earlier for a children's theatre hour. My knees were knocking and my mouth dry, but I was an actress. I faked conifdence. " Wendy knew that every child has to grow up. And if that child grows up, he or she must one day die. You see, All little children grow up, all but one. And the way Wendy knew was this--"  
  
"Enough." Frieza suddenly snapped, a frown pulling on his face. I closed my mouth quickly, but stood my ground. "I did not bring you here to listen to children's myths."  
  
"I know, my Lord," I began to explain, "But if you don't know the story, you won't understand the words I sing, and I--"  
  
"I said enough!"  
  
The whole room fell into shocked silence as Frieza glared at me. I puffed out my chest and tried to look as un-phased as possible. Inside I was quivering like jelly. I nearly bit through my own bottom lip.  
  
"I brought you here to sing. So sing!" he boomed, and I blanched.  
  
My mind went blank. I froze.  
  
He raised an angry eye... ridge. "Well?!" he demanded.  
  
"I'm afraid to admit, my Lord," I said softly, "that I have not prepared anything else." I admitted nervously.  
  
Frieza leaned back in his chair with a disgusted scowl. "I want a song about fighting. Sing one of those." Again I paused, unsure of how to react. "Well!?"  
  
"I..." I looked up to meet his gaze timidly. "I don't know any."  
  
Frieza looked at me for a long hard second, and I heard mummers spread around the ranks of those assembled like wildfire. I began to sweat and tremor.   
  
I was going to die, now. I was certain of it.  
  
The, suddenly... he laughed.  
  
I blinked, dumbfounded.   
  
He LAUGHED!  
  
"Such a weak and peaceful race!" he sneered about me to the others gathered around him. "No songs glorifying war, little bitch?" he asked, pointing a sharp-nailed slender finger at me.  
  
"No." I said to my slippers. I had been dressed almost identical to the way Rurutip dressed me, but my gown was embroidered with all sorts of glittery things and the colour was now yellow. I think the colour of one's dress signified to whom one belonged, for I had noticed earlier that all the salves of the Saiya-jinn wore black, and the higher-classed Saiya-jinn's slaves wore powder blue, like I did.  
  
Frieza glared at me. "Anything about fighting? Or is that too much to expect from such a pathetic peoples?"  
  
My hackles rose at his insult. Being peaceful didn't make me weak!  
  
"I know one." I spat, out of the blue.  
  
Frieza's eyes widened momentarily, then his smug smirk returned. "Then go ahead."  
  
That was a lie. I actually knew two, but since I couldn't remember all the lyrics to TS Elliot's "The Peeks and the Policals", I settled on Great Big Sea's "Come Follow Me."  
  
Taking a deep and nervous breath, I began:  
  
Two recruiting soldiers came to the CLB,  
for the sons of the merchants,  
to join the Blue Patties.  
So all hands enlisted, five hundred young men...  
  
Enlist ye Newfound landers, and come...  
Follow me.  
  
They crossed the broad oceans on the brave ship "Florazel",  
And on the Sands of Suvla, they entered into Hell.  
And on those bloody beaches,  
the first of them fell...  
  
Enlist ye Newfound landers, and come follow me.  
  
And it's over the mountains and over the seas,  
come brave Newfound landers, and join the Blue Patties.  
We'll fight the Hun in Flanders, and at Gallipoli,  
Enlist ye Newfound landers and come....  
Follow me.  
  
The call came from London town for the last July drive.  
"Fill the trenches with the Regiments."   
"Prepare yourselves to die..."  
The role call next morning...  
Just a handful survived...  
  
Enlist ye newfound landers, and come follow me.  
  
And it's over the mountains and over the seas,  
come brave Newfound landers, and join the Blue Patties.  
We'll fight the Hun in Flanders, and at Gallipoli,  
Enlist ye Newfound landers and come....  
Follow me.  
  
Stone men on Water streets still cry for the day,   
When the pride of this city went marching away.  
"A thousand men slaughtered."   
I hear the King say...  
  
Enlist ye Newfound landers and come follow me....  
  
And it's over the mountains and over the seas,  
come brave Newfound landers, and join the Blue Patties.  
We'll fight the Hun in Flanders, and at Gallipoli,  
Enlist ye Newfound landers and come....  
Follow me.  
  
Enlist ye Newfound landers and come....  
Fol-low me....  
  
When I finished, I looked the Frieza creep dead in the eye and smiled as I noticed his jaw was on the floor.   
  
So it was true, what the slave women had said about me while I was arming up, no one outside of Chikyuu had ever been trained like I have. No one could sing like me.  
  
It gave me a brief sense of superiority to know that I was special and wonderful and new in this tainted and blasted universe.  
  
That perhaps I was a beacon of light in this Hell.  
  
***  
  
Now, I should point something out.  
  
Even though I may have an amazing voice outside of Chikyuu, I was nothing special at home. Maybe, with lots of training and some luck, I might have gotten a few chorus parts in some ameture theatre, but I was certainly no prima donna.  
  
That's what made the whole effect I had on people so dream-like to me. I didn't understand why Rurutip always seemed to fall into a trance when I sang, cuddling up and purring like some oversized kitten.  
  
He even went so far as to rub my throat as I sang, marvelling at the buzzing feeling under his fingers.  
  
It amazed me that Frieza and Zarbon could both say nothing as I was lead away, and back to Rurutip's ship.  
  
But what made the whole terrifing thing worth while was the look on Celik an Falfa's faces when I walked past them in the hall and bowed.  
  
"Damn, girl." I heard Celik whisper to me, "You surprised Frieza. No one's ever done that."  
  
I giggled softly, and continued on my way after they went on theirs, smiling to myself as the doors to Rurutip's rooms hissed open.  
  
Then I froze.  
  
Rurutip was standing there, waiting for me, arms crossed and the most furious scowl on his face that I had ever seen.  
  
"You made a fool of me." he snarled darkly.  
  
"What...?" I said softly, confused, and took a small step back.  
  
He lashed out and arm and locked it around my wrist, yanking me into the main room. Behind me the doors hissed shut with solemn finality.   
  
"You defied Frieza." he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.  
  
"I-I didn't!" I protested and he shook me very hard, until my shoulders were aching.  
  
"Liar! Don't ever lie to me! I was THERE!" He pulled me off the ground until we were face to face, and I choked back the bitter pained tears.   
  
"You're hu-hurting me..." I whimpered.  
  
"Shut up!" he snarled and shook me again, then tossed me at the wall. I hit the metal with head-spinning force, and slumped to the ground. "Don't think that I didn't see that fucking grin of yours when Zarbon took you away! You were GLAD to be gone!"  
  
I cracked an eye open to gaze at him blearily. There were four of him, and each of them had little halos around his head.  
  
"And then, I swear, you were trying to get yourself killed, mouthing off to Frieza like that!" He turned his back to me, disgusted. "Anything is better than staying here, with me! Isn't it?!" he thundered. "Even death?!"  
  
I struggled to sit up, coughing up blood in the effort to move.   
  
He sounded insulted. As if I had... betrayed him. As if I had... hurt him.  
  
"N...nnoo..." I managed to choke up around the blood, and he turned back to me, his face as dark as a thunder cloud and twice as menacing.  
  
"You're mine. You will always be mine." He lifted me up by the scruff of my dress, and my head flopped back uselessly, the tears of pain finally leaking out of the corners of my eyes to pool at my temples and disappear into my hair. "You can never escape me. Even dead, you will still be mine."  
  
I could not respond. I wanted to say, 'no, you have it wrong! I'd rather be here, with you, with men I trust, then alone and surrounded by people who only wanted my voice.' But I couldn't.  
  
I couldn't say a damn thing, it hurt so much. I could only make a low hitching sob of a sound.  
  
"Fuck." he snarled and dragged me up over one arm. I wailed when my neck was moved and he touched the blood spot, tested the slickness between his fingers, and sniffed it. I nearly was sick over his arm -and would have vomited too, if I'd had the lung capacity, but my ribs had snapped on one side when I'd hit the wall- and not only from the dizzying motion. He actually licked the blood off of his fingers.  
  
Gross.  
  
I'm pretty sure I fainted just then.  
  
***  
  
I was vaguely aware of surroundings, and through the blue-tinted haze, I realized that Falfa hadn't put enough sedative in the gel again.  
  
"Did you see how bad she was?" Celik whistled, leering at me through the glass. If I had been in less pain, I would have been embarrassed of my limp, nude body. "What the Hell got him so mad?"  
  
Falfa sighed. "He thinks she wants out. That she hates him."  
  
"What? She should be grateful she's the concubine of a Squad Captain."  
  
"Yui. She talked back to Frieza, did you hear that? Rurutip was right there when she did it."  
  
"And she's still alive?"  
  
Falfa gestured to me. "Just barely. Frieza didn't do it, but Rurutip thought she wanted Frieza to kill her, and that's why she flat out refused to sing what he wanted. The boss was pissed and threw her into the wall."  
  
Celik grinned. "If he was just going to waste her by tossing her around the room, he could at least give her to me for a while."  
  
Flafa hit Celik's shoulder with a "Baka." then turned and fiddled with the panel on the tank, and I fell into oblivion.  
  
***  
  
When I awakened, I was informed by Falfa that I had been under for nearly a week, the damage had been so bad.  
  
Rurutip was pacing by the time I had shuffled back to his rooms, sore and weak, and hurting all over still. My joints were stiff and my muscles tight.  
  
He looked up when I entered and scooped me up into his arms with what almost seemed to be relief. "You're finally out of that goddamned tank! I was going stir crazy without you here!"  
  
I was slightly pleased. I knew he only meant that he was sexually frustrated (for although I had learned that it was acceptable, even normal, for two Saiya-jinn males to sleep together, it was certainly out of the question for two Saiyans of different ranks to be together), but I consoled my bruised pride by pretending that he meant that he missed me, myself.  
  
He proceeded to taste my skin, slowly pulling the robe away from anything he wanted to get at.  
  
I winced when his hands wandered over my tight back muscles and choked back a whimper.   
  
He heard it, looked up, and frowned.  
  
"Sorry." I said softly, "I know you don't like that." his frown deepened and I decided I better explain. "I'm very stiff."  
  
"Oh." he said softly. "I should have expected that." he stood. "Come."  
  
I allowed myself to be lead into the bedroom and laid down on the nest. I bit my lip in anticipation of the pain that would come from being taken while so sore, but instead Rurutip made me lie on my stomach and lightly ran his hands over my tensed back.   
  
He didn't move in any of the familiar, soothing massage patterns, but his Ki leaked through my skin, warming my cells and making the blood flow.  
  
It felt wonderful.  
  
I was so grateful that he had been so perceptive and sympathetic, that, as soon as I felt I could move comfortably, I scrambled out from under his glowing hands and climbed onto his broad back.  
  
He raised a curious eyebrow at me and allowed himself to be pushed down. "Baka. What are you doing?" he snickered into the pillows.  
  
I began to move my hands against his back, and found it like trying to massage a brick wall, only less yielding. "Um," I said tentatively, "D'you think you can power down a little?"  
  
He paused, then grunted, and I felt the air around us grow thin. I could finally manipulate his back, and began to hit some favourite spots. He groaned when I pressed my thumbs on either side of his spine and worked my way from the base of his skull down to the edge of his tail.  
  
He shivered when I softly took his tail between my palms and rubbed my way along that too, all the way to the tip.  
  
"What...?" he panted, visibly restraining himself, hands fisted into the sheets. "What the Hell are you doing?! You've never touched me like that before." I pinched the tip of his tail lightly and he growled. "No... no one's t-touched me like t-that before..."  
  
I took a deep breath, settled my hips on his waist. This was it, the big moment of truth. "I'm trying to make you see that this is where I'd rather be."  
  
He froze, and flipped himself over, grasping my waist in his large hands. "Say that again?"  
  
I closed my eyes. "I said, I don't want to leave here. I prefer you to that creepy Frieza or that egotistical Zarbon." I looked up at him, smiling softly, driving the last nail home. I had finished making my bed... time to sleep in it. "If I can't be at home, Rurutip, I want to be with you."  
  
He smiled faintly. "So I'm only second best?"  
  
I swallowed hard. Aw, shit.  
  
Then he chuckled softly. "This is your home, and it's about time you learned your place." His hand came up to brush across my shoulder and down my side, tickling a little, and I wiggled. "What else have I beaten into you?"  
  
I sighed heavily, not believing that he still did not understand. "It's not what you hit me for." I said softly, leaning down to look at those strange dark ash eyes of his, "It's what you looked like when you did it." He blinked up at me and frowned. "You looked like it hurt you to hurt me."  
  
He snarled. "Shut up."  
  
"No." I said stubbornly and he raised a hand to smack me for my impertinence. For once I didn't cringe. "So hit me." I responded hotly. "Go on. Do it." He lowered his hand and glared at me. "You can't do it, can you? You keep telling me that all you want me for is my body, my voice. It's a lie." I leaned down until our lips almost touched. "You're just like me."  
  
I kissed him, slowly, and he blinked. He ought to have, it was the first time I had ever been the aggressor, and he wasn't used to a touch this soft and affectionate.  
  
"You're lonely."  
  
***  
  
"Idiot female." I heard him murmur as he crawled away from me and stood, tip-toeing in that odd-stalking-saiyan-way of his, thinking I was asleep. "I'm not lonely. I don't care about you at all."  
  
He walked out the door and paused only momentarily to stare at me.  
  
"I don't."  
  
I smiled softly, then drifted back to sleep, muttering to myself.  
  
"Liar."  
  
***  
  
"Don't defy me, Warrior!" a snarl came from the main room, and I was woken up. Numbly I lay where I was and listened to the words, the voice vaugely familiar. I realized it was Nappa, the bald general we had stopped in to see on Earth. "The King demands that you return to Vejiita-sei at once!"  
  
"She's mine!" I heard him snap in return. "I won't turn her over to be terminated."  
  
"The King demands it." Nappa said in a 'don't fuck with me' tone. "And so does Frieza."  
  
"Why Frieza?" Rurutip barked. "She did what he wanted!"  
  
"He doesn't like her attitude. Be glad he doesn't want you and your Squad exterminated as well, 'cause he could do it if he wanted!" I head Nappa sigh through my sudden haze of panic. "Imagine, a whole Squad executed for the sins of a pet."  
  
Then the screen blipped off, and it's sound no longer covered my panicky squeaks.  
  
Rurutip turned to find me huddled in the door frame. I turned watering eyes up to him.  
  
"They want me dead?" I whispered, voice broken and uneven, "Why? I'm nothing, a nobody."  
  
Rurutip crouched by me and touched my shoulder softly. "It's not my place to question the orders of my King." he said, voice low. "Go back to sleep." he stood and pushed me gently back into the bedroom. "You're going to need it soon... Mayra."  
  
***  
  
I couldn't return to sleep, so Rurutip tired me out instead.  
  
When I awoke, we had reached Vejiita-sei, and I only had time to dress and brush my hair straight before I was ordered to appear before the King.   
  
He glared at me and scowled. "You," he said, pointing a finger accusingly at me, "have caused more trouble than you are worth for the Saiya-jinn. Your worthless existence ends NOW." His fingertip began to glow, and my knees knocked together, but I was determined to be brave.  
  
I stole a glance as Rurutip, who stood in the back, head down and tail limp against one leg.  
  
Seeing him so downcast, I decided that if I was going to go out, I was going to go out with guts, dammit!  
  
I turned fiery eyes back to the King. "It's not my fault!" I snarled at him, and he rose to his feet, affronted. "I did what that white jerk wanted, and I did exactly what you told me to, and I did exactly what your horney son told me to, and if your precious ego can't deal with the fact that I'm not going to shake myself into a puddle of submissive jelly at your feet, then you can take your tail and shove it up your ass!"  
  
The whole room stood in shocked silence. This King was so mad his face had turned red and his tail had puffed out.  
  
I stood my ground, not daring to look at Rurutip.  
  
Then, just as before, one lone chuckle broke the thick and furious quiet.  
  
Prince Vejiita put his gloves together in a steady rhythmic clap. "Well done." he sniggered, amused.  
  
The King turned to his son with a snarl. The Prince merely smiled back like his father was his most favourite man in the world.  
  
The King soon enough got a hold of his temper, and resumed pointing straight at me, his finger crackling with ki. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the inevitable, pondering on my situation.  
  
My mother. My father. My friends at home. Falfa, Celik, the Squad. And Rurutip. How would I remember Rurutip? As a fiend who stole me from my home... or as a man who was just as lonely as he had made me.  
  
And how would he remember me?  
  
After a few seconds I realized with a start that... I was still alive.  
  
I cracked a puzzled eye at the King who stood there, arms crossed and a look of amusement on his face.  
  
"You have stood up to me, and accepted your fate." he said gravely. "You have earned my respect, little bitch." he said softly, dangerously. "But know this, only because you survived Frieza's anger do I spare you. If he pursues his interest in your death, I shall comply. And if you do anything to defy another Saiya-jinn again, you will be destroyed."  
  
I bowed low, shell shocked. Surprised I was still alive.  
  
Of course, the Saiya-jinn respected fearlessness and strength.  
  
"Warrior." he said, addressing Rurutip, and he stepped forward. He looked as cool as a cucumber, but I could tell by the dampness on the palm of his gloves that he had been afraid of my loss. "You have brought your King quite a prize, and proven yourself worthy of being promoted. Captain Rurutip, you are now Commander Rurutip, in charge of the collecting stations and slave barracks on the southern continent of Vejiita-sei."  
  
Rurutip bowed low, knee and hand on the carpet, then stood and stepped back.  
  
"And you, Ningen." the King turned his attention to me. Everyone in the room waited for his next words. "You will entertain me and my guests tonight at a feast, understood? With the story of that Wendy that Frieza so despised. Anything he hates I'm sure to enjoy."   
  
"Hai, wagamiki." I said softly, smiling secretly, and copied Rurutip's bow, then stepped back as he did. The King dismissed us, and went on with his business.  
  
As we walked out of the throne room, I felt light-headed and thrilled.   
  
I had cheated death.  
  
"Ningen." the King suddenly called after me. "You need an oshichiya."  
  
Rurutip glanced up. "She already has a name, my King." he said.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Hai." Rurutip looked down at me with the familiar possessiveness that I had begun to crave. It wasn't love, but it was pretty damn close, and that was good enough. "It's Mayra."  
  
***  
  
END 


	5. Cold Betrayal: Buruburu Uragiri

Ningen 3: Cold Betrayal, Buruburu Uragiri  
(Final Instalment)  
–By Vega  
  
***  
Author's Note: To Logan, whoever and wherever you are. Doumo.  
  
Note on the time line: This whole story takes place early into DBZ. In fact, maybe only a year after Radittzu came to collect Gokuu. The difference here is that the Saiya-jinn empire still existed, so instead of purging Earth, they took control of it and took Gokuu and Gohan away by force to be punished for their betrayal of their King.  
  
[uragiri] treachery/betrayal/perfidy  
[buruburu] shivering with cold or fear/shaking/trembling  
  
***  
  
The day that Rurutip and I moved with the Squad to the Southern continent was the best and worst day I had had since the night he had stolen me from home.  
  
It was the best because I could finally go outside into fresh air whenever I wanted, as Rurutip now had permanent chambers with a fixed garden courtyard and beautiful grand trees. Believe it or not, the Saiya-jinn really respected trees because of the plant's ability to withstand and deal with almost any crisis, and it's strength and longevity.  
  
The sky on Vejiita-sei was a hue closer to pink than blue, but it was nonetheless lovely.   
  
However, it was also the worst day because for the first time, I saw the way other slaves of the Saiya-jinn were treated.  
  
Most were given admirable conditions to live in -warm beds, good food, a chance to have and raise families- but it hurt to know that those people, like myself, would never ever be free again.   
  
And those born in this place would never know what freedom was.  
  
So, even though the Saiya-jinn were very advanced, civilized, intelligent (some of them) and surprisingly democratic, it still seemed like someone had jabbed a knife through my heart whenever I saw a little child's play interrupted by a leering soldier or a restricted area.  
  
Then there were the other sorts of slaves. The 'gladiator' types. The labourers.   
  
You don't really think that the Saiya-jinn cook their own food or make their own clothing... or dig their own graves? They are warriors. They don't mine. They don't sew. They don't look after their own brats.  
  
All they do is fight.  
  
The women don't even like to get pregnant. It hampers their ability to do battle. So the slaves are the ones to raise the children in nurseries. And do everything else, too. Without slaves, the whole empire seemed to me as if it would crumble.  
  
Rurutip's Squad became the one in charge of the general trading post of the Southern continent, and so spent much of their time fighting ambassadors and journeying off to far planets and systems to 'negotiate' with or destroy allies.  
  
Every Saiyan's dream, to be able to fight or kill for gain.  
  
Rurutip himself was a little less pleased with his new post. Although he was proud to be called Commander rather than Captain, he missed the freedom of space and the privacy and power that a single ship with a small loyal squad granted.  
  
But all the power that a post like his new one was consolation enough. Besides that, because of my talent, he often spent time with the more elite of his race (Rurutip was only a second class, after all) and was making connections at every event I entertained at. He was using me, more or less, to climb the social ladder of Vejiita-sei.  
  
If things kept going in the direction he wanted, he'd soon be sparring with the big boys, and from that could only come an increase in skills and strength. If he was good enough, and determined enough, he could get good enough to be re-labelled a first class, and from there an elite.  
  
To be an Elite Saiya-jinn is any Saiyan's dream. That means he or she can become one of the King's Royal Guard, and would therefore be given a chance to give his life in the act of protecting the King. The single most brave and honourable thing a Saiya-jinn could do.  
  
Personally, I didn't like the idea that Rurutip might become part of the Royal Guard. That meant he'd move into the palace -and me with him- and there would be a very big chance of me running into the Prince again.  
  
And believe me, he is not the sort of guy you want to hang around, if you catch my drift. Every time he walked into the same room I did, my short hairs would stand on edge.  
  
I was actually very lucky. The Prince didn't find me attractive, and thought my talent worthless, so he showed no interest in me whatsoever. The King thought of me as a prize bird in a cage, to be dressed up and paraded before his guests to show off how splendid and powerful his race and planet was.  
  
Each could have taken me from Rurutip, had they felt so inclined. But the Prince was bored around me and the King valued my voice too much to try to damage my performing ability or co-operation by dragging me to his bed.  
  
The King and the Prince were the only ones who had the authority to remove me from Rurutip's care, and both had every reason not to want to.  
  
Which meant that I could stay with the only Saiya-jinn on the planet I really and truly trusted. Except for maybe Falfa, an older Saiyan who was really very kind despite his tough outwards appearance, and Celik, a brash young thing, barely out of his teens who teased me all the time, trying to get a piece.  
  
I mean, hey, I'm just a little Ningen nothing. Anyone could have snuffed me out like a light at the mere thought of it.  
  
So, I learned to live with the Saiya-jinn customs on Vejiita-sei, and to act meekly whenever any Saiya-jinn gave me an order. On the ship, it had been only Rurutip I had to answer to, and the Squad was nothing to worry about. Here, there were hundreds of warriors more powerful than Rurutip, thus I had hundreds of warriors I had to obey.  
  
Luckily, they were all smart enough not to try to mess with the King's new favourite toy.  
  
***  
  
It was nearly two weeks I was on Vejiita-sei before I realized something was not quite right with the Empire.  
  
The King was taking orders from Frieza. And he hated it. In fact, they all hated it, but they knew -just as I did - that they simply were not strong enough to overthrow his control.  
  
Like Earth was controlled, but left to do it's own thing by the Saiya-jinn, so too was Vejiita-sei ruled by Frieza.  
  
And like the humans resented being ants in a glass ant farm, so too did the Saiya-jinn.  
  
The only difference between us and them... was the fact that they had the power to do something about it.   
  
And do something about it, I was sure they were going to... and soon.  
  
***  
  
One day, I was curious. I sat at a small table in Rurutip's new chambers (set up almost exactly like his old ones, save for the fact that his windows actually opened now), and began counting off on my fingers.   
  
It had been well into October when Rurutip and I first met. October... 15th, I thought. So, two weeks later was when we left earth. October 29th. One week to reach Vejiita-sei the first time. November 5th. Two to reach Yadrat-sei. November 20th. Another two to get back to Vejiita-sei, during which I had been left in the re-gen tank. December 4th. And I had been on Vejiita-sei with Rurutip over two weeks now. Two weeks and two days.  
  
That made it December 20th.  
  
Christmas was only 5 days away.  
  
I sighed and wondered what my family was doing for Christmas. Then I pondered what - if anything- I should get Rurutip.  
  
***  
  
Later that day, I was allowed to peruse the Royal Library. King Vejiita wanted me to sing a song for the upcoming festival that had something to do with the legends of the Saiya-jinn, and when I had confessed that I didn't know any, he had had a warrior point out the Library to me.  
  
So great, all of a sudden, I'm a composer?  
  
I'd never written a song in my life!  
  
But, I thought, perhaps if I find a legend and use a tune I already knew, I could fake it. So, sorting through piles and piles of books that didn't seem to be in any sort of alphabetical or numerical order whatsoever, I spent the afternoon choosing books by roughly translating the titles on the spines and then taking the book itself to computer to scan and read the English that came up on a screen.  
  
It was lucky that this particular computer had been uploaded with all of the Chikyuu-jinn languages, or I'd be lost.  
  
I found a lot of crap in those piles, ancestor glorifying and what not. Death counts and battle recounting. I really didn't find anything worth singing about until I found a small, thin, white book in a far corner. It looked as if the spine had barely been cracked, and the Saiyago that littered the cover was guided in what appeared to be a mix of white and yellow gold.  
  
"Wow..." I whistled and took out my small hand-held computer. It held a dictionary that I had been carrying around for the past week in one of the folds of my strange powder blue dress.  
  
One word on the spine I already recognized: "Saiya-jinn." No big deal there, but it was the other ones that I couldn't understand, and so I typed them into the hand-held machine.  
  
"Denkiteki Kairiki Saiya-jinn" is how it read roughly. This is what it translated to:  
  
"The Legend of the SuperSaiyan."  
  
My eyes widened. "SuperSaiyan?" I flipped through the thin text wondering at the elaborite illustrations. Was that a giant gold king-kong?  
  
Hurridly, I rushed over to the translating computer and fed the first page under the scanner. This is what came up:  
  
SuperSaiyan, Golden Oozaru,  
The Moon's Mate and the King.  
  
Once every thousand years   
he will take our fate, and sing  
of our People's Power!  
  
Most of the stanzas -as I soon learned, the whole book seemed to be predictions and short poems- spoke of how powerful this Golden Oozaru, this SuperSaiyajinn. I sorta got bored with the stereotypical Saiya-jinn pride and boasting, until I got to the last stanza:  
  
Kakarotto, rough to start,  
Grows to Gokou, Pure of Heart.  
Hate, Rage, enmity;  
SuperSaiyan in a fight to be free...  
Friends are lost, Planets fall;  
And He emerges; Strongest of us All.  
  
***  
  
I spent days trying to work the legends and the final prediction into lyrics. The first day was spent just trying to decided which melody to pirate.  
  
After hours of deliberation, and balancing a pencil between my upper lip and nose, I decided upon the melody to 'Loch Lommond'. It was beautiful, simple, melodic, and just about right for the prediction. The syllables almost fit, and I only had to add a few extra beats and notes.  
  
The final song turned out like rather well.  
  
I gave the lyrics to Rurutip as a gift.   
  
"Merry Christmas." I smiled, handing them to him, rolled up and tied with a ribbon I found.  
  
"Nani?" he stared at me, eyes wide. "What?"  
  
"Merry Christmas." I blushed and looked at my feet. "It's a holiday on Earth, celebrated on this day each year."  
  
He stared at me with wide eyes, then laughed out loud, head thrown back. "What sort of shit has Falfa been feeding you?!"  
  
I glared at him and stomped a foot. "I'm being perfectly serious!" I looked at the scroll in my hand. "If you don't want it, fine! I... I... I'll burn it!"  
  
He snatched my wrist and pried the papers from my grip. "No need." he snarled. "Stop bitching, I'm taking it, okay?" He unrolled it, bored and annoyed, then paused as he scanned the words, eyes bugging out. "You translated this into Saiyago?"  
  
"Yes." I said softly.  
  
"Why?" he asked, eyes narrow and suspicious.   
  
"Because it's Christmas." I said. I moved to leave the room and he stoped me by wrapping his tail around my waist.  
  
"Explain." He said, waving the paper in front of me. "Why this gift? Where did you find this legend?"  
  
"The Library." I said. "It is a popular legend, isn't it?"   
  
He nodded abruptly, but pulled me closer. "Explain this, though. What the Hell is this stupid holiday of yours?"  
  
I began to grow upset with him. What, didn't like my gift, did he? Thought it was stupid and useless? Forget it, then! "Let me go!" I snarled, trying to pull his tail away.   
  
"Stay still!" he growled back. "Explain!"  
  
"It's a celebration of life!" I snapped back. Rurutip paused and stared at me. "It's the birth date of the man whom our chief religions revolve around."  
  
"So why give gifts?" He asked, calmer than before, but still annoyed that I had not answered right away.  
  
"Because we can't give them to him." I said, not believing he didn't understand. "We give them to our loved ones, to show them that we care."  
  
He dropped me to the floor, and I couldn't get my balance so I ended up on my rear.  
  
"You... gave this to me...? For your stupid holiday?"  
  
I said nothing.  
  
"You mean to tell me that... you feel something for me?" Rurutip looked down at me with wide eyes.  
  
I looked down. "You're all I have right now. It only seemed appropriate."  
  
"Fuck!" he snarled, turned on his heels and stormed out of the room. "Imagine, getting attached to a pet!"  
  
I stared at the papers he left crumpled on the floor. "Stories of your messiah for the birth of mine." I said softly to myself, then hid my face in my hands and wept.  
  
I was alone and unloved after all.  
  
***  
  
"Where is your usual spirit, Ningen?" The King demanded of me upon my entrance the next evening. "You are usually so eager to perform."  
  
I looked at him and forced a smile.   
  
What had I to be eager about anymore? The man I thought at least LIKED me still saw me as nothing more than a pet. A stupid, worthless, parrot to sing and spread my legs on demand.  
  
But, as I've said before, I'm a performer. I pretended.  
  
I wasn't really paying attention to those around me as I sang. I knew the King was at the head of the crowd, and that the Prince was to his left. I wasn't sure who was too his right, the shadows in this particular arena were deep, and I couldn't make out the face.  
  
There were other Saiya-jinn there too, but I only knew Falfa and Celik.  
  
No one else really mattered. At least not at the time.  
  
But by the end of the evening, I learned some new names and faces, and I'm certain I'll never forget them.  
  
***  
  
I had come into the room mid-way into the festivities, as per usual. King Vejiita liked to make his guests wait for everything, and for my evening performance it was no different.  
  
I started with an up beat song, then steadied my nerves, and said, "Sire. In honour of this event, I have prepared a song about Vejiita-sei's most popular legend. The Legend of the SuperSaiya-jinn."  
  
The SuperSaiyan-jinn,  
The great Golden Oozaru,  
The Moon's Mate   
and the King's flower.  
Once every thousand years   
he will take our fate, and sing  
of our People's Power!  
  
Born a warrior, strong, true.  
Rage and love upon a beaten breast.  
The strongest.  
Beyond, above, the very best.  
The freer of captives.  
  
He has been, will be again.  
He comes and goes with the cycles of the centuries,  
with the moon.  
He will crush the strongest of his enemies,  
To Free his people soon.  
  
Kakarotto, rough to start,  
Grows to Gokou, Pure of Heart.  
  
Hate, Rage, Enemity;  
SuperSaiyan in a fight to be free...  
  
Children are lost, Planets fall;  
And He emerges; Strongest of us All.  
  
When I finished, there was wild whooping applause from every Saiya-jinn present, save for the Prince, who looked only a little less bored than usual, and the King, whose eyes had suddenly gone very wide.  
  
He turned to the shadowed man beside him, and I saw his mouth moving as if to explain something, but couldn't hear his words. I did notice, however, that he had gone extremely pale.  
  
What had happened while I sang that could have caused him such panic?  
  
It was then that I realized I recognized a few of the other faces around the room. Specifically... Zarbon.  
  
That meant Frieza was here somewhere, and I began to tremble, eyes sweeping, jabbing from face to face. He'd kill me if he knew I was still alive!   
  
And he sure as Hell knew now!  
  
There was a lot happening around me when I stepped off to the side, to stand beside Rurutip, in fear of my life. I was so afraid, actually, that I didn't realized the hubbub that had begun to spread from Saiyan to Saiyan.  
  
I didn't notice one Saiya-jinn slip out the back, a scowl on his twice scarred face, sweat beading along his hair-line. I didn't notice the Prince's fists clench. I didn't hear the growls that came from the shadowed man and the King until the former finally stood and snarled:  
  
"You KEPT THIS FROM ME?!"  
  
The whole room stopped, and looked at the man who screamed.   
  
Frieza.   
  
I made a squeaking sound, terrified. I knew he was mad at the King for keeping me alive. I was going to die, and probably suffer too.  
  
But then I realized, I listened... Frieza wasn't speaking of me. He was referring to my song.  
  
"Explain the meaning of this, Vejiita!" Frieza snarled and both Vejiitas tensed, looking for all the world as if they wanted to kill Frieza. But they couldn't. Even together, they couldn't have been strong enough. "SuperSaiya-jinn! What is that?!"  
  
The King babbled for a few moments, then the Prince stepped around his to shake a fist at Frieza.  
  
"I am!" he spat, and Frieza's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am the strongest Saiya-jinn, and I WILL be the SuperSaiyan!"  
  
Frieza's own fist began to glow. I don't think the Prince saw it. My breath caught in my throat.  
  
"I will be the strongest warrior in the universe!" the Prince continued his tirade. "And then, Frieza," he spat out the other man's name as if he hated the taste of it, "I will destroy you and free my people!"  
  
Frieza glared for a moment, shaking with rage, then began to laugh. "Little Prince!" he smiled cruelly. "It's a stupid legend! No monkey is stronger than I! Let me show you!"  
  
He raised his glowing hand and I screamed, "Watch out!" but the stubborn royal ass ignored me and looked right into the blast.  
  
I couldn't tell from where I was if Vejiita-ouji was dead or not when his body finally hit the ground. But it sure as hell looked like it.  
  
In a sickening way, I was glad the bastard was dead.  
  
"No..." I whispered under my breath, clinging to the rim of Rurutip's armour, terrified. Then Frieza turned to me.   
  
He looked directly at me, smirking evilly. "And you. I thought I ordered you dead, bitch. And now, you dare to incite a rebellion against me?"  
  
A lump formed in my throat, and I couldn't say a thing as he stalked across the great marble floor, stepped over the Prince's black, smoking body, and stopped directly in front of me.  
  
"Move." he snarled at Rurutip. Rurutip looked to the King, who nodded, and then pried my fingers out of his armour and stepped away. The veins were popping out on his forehead.  
  
I crumpled to the floor, tears now leaking out of the corners of my eyes.   
  
I was going to die, for real this time. Nothing and no one could stop Frieza. Not Rurutip. Not even the King.  
  
He struck me across the face, hard, his fist crackling with ki and I was thrown to the ground, face bleeding and burnt.  
  
"Little slut!" he snarled. "Die!"  
  
I clenched my eyes closed, fisting my hands on the cold floor, tucking my knees up and hiding under my arms.  
  
No false bravery this time. No screaming names or defying death. This time I was terrified to die.  
  
"You first!" came a call from the far side of the room.  
  
The voice was low, harsh, violent... it sounded like one of God's own angels.  
  
He saved me, this man, for Frieza, with a whistle of anger spun to face him. This was the man who had snuck out earlier without my noticing it. The man with hair that pointed in two opposite directions.  
  
"Who are you to speak to me thus?!" Frieza snarled.  
  
"Captain Bardock!" the Saiya-jinn warrior replied over the vast thick silence of the room. "The father of Kakarotto! The man who will destroy you!"  
  
"Kakarotto?" Frieza repeated, voice dropping to a hash whisper of shock. "The SuperSaiyan!?"  
  
Bardock smiled, and motioned. A filthy, beaten, tail-less Saiya-jinn wearing what appeared to be the remains of an orange gi was thrown into the empty space before Frieza. He appeared to be clutching something.   
  
Upon further examination, I realized that the 'something' was a small boy, maybe only six years of age, wearing a torn and bloody yellow jacket and green pants.  
  
The older Saiyan was most definitely Bardock's son. The resemblance was unmistakable. Just as the boy he clutched bore a resemblance to him.  
  
I gasped as the man crawled painfully to his feet, hushing the weeping child with a soft "Be strong Gohan."  
  
Frieza took one look at them and burst out laughing. "This is supposed to be Vejiita-sei's most powerful warrior!? Don't make me laugh! He's a weak third class nothing!"  
  
Bardock's tail bristled, and I curled into a smaller ball on the cold floor, blood from my face pooling at my feet.  
  
"Fight him, Kakarot!" Bardock snarled.  
  
"No!" Kakarotto shouted in return. "I won't help you! You killed my wife! My friends! You enslave Earth! I hate you! I won't fight for you!"  
  
"Kakarotto!" Bardock snarled. "Do it!"  
  
Frieza's laugh died out and he stared at Kakarotto with a contemplative look on his face. "Kakarotto. Yes, I know your name. Are you not the Saiya-jinn who was sent to Chikyuu-sei to purge it, and bumped his head?"  
  
Kakarotto glared murder at Frieza, and I swallowed heavily. Chikyuu had been meant to be purged?!  
  
Frieza pointed at me over his shoulder and I yelped, thinking he meant to shoot me. I heard Rurutip snarl, but not move. To move would be suicide.  
  
"She's a Chikyuu-jinn, you know." Frieza lowered his hands to his waist, an evil smirk playing on his lips. "Does she look like your wife did before she was blown into little bloody pieces? Will you try to save her Kakarot?"  
  
A purple flash of light leapt out at me, so fast that all I could do was scream when I felt it graze my arm.  
  
"No!" Kakarotto howled, holding his son in his grip protectively. "Stop, please, don't hurt her!"  
  
I laughed softly to myself. A Saiya-jinn begging for my life. How ironic.  
  
Frieza looked around the room. "Let's make this a game, shall we? If you can save her before I kill her, she stays alive. How does that sound? I won't kill her, or you, when I kill the rest of these back-stabbing worthless monkeys."  
  
A mummer of hatred flew around the room, and yet no one moved. The King had not moved, his eyes wide and still locked on his own son's smoldering body.  
  
"I don't care about these people!" Kakarotto said in a low angry voice. "Do whatever you want with them. Just leave me and my son and the girl out of it."  
  
Frieza seemed to ponder this. Then he chuckled. "No. You're a SuperSaiyan, or so they say. Can't have you around to pester me." a beam shot out of his hand and pierced Kakarotto's shoulder, who screamed in agony and slammed down to his knees, one arm suddenly useless.   
  
"Get up!" Bardock screamed at his son. "Fight!"  
  
Kakarotto said nothing, and his son shook his arm. "Daddy? Daddy?!"  
  
"And the girl," Frieza said, pointing to me, "Is defying me. She dies too." One of those beams came right at me, and I moved just enough that only my leg was hit, blood bubbling up everywhere as I shrieked.  
  
"And your son." Frieza smiled smoothly and zipped forward to haul the child up to eye level by his jacket front. "He carried the SuperSaiyan genes. He must die most of all."  
  
"No, Gohan!" Kakarotto screamed.  
  
"Daddy!" was all the poor child had time to say before Frieza moved his hand, neatly snapping the tender little neck.  
  
The child's corpse was tossed to join me, and I was certain I was going to be just as dead as he was and the Prince was within moments. But to see the death of an innocent child is the most horrible thing in the world, and after all the sorrow and guilt and hate I'd endured, I finally went over the edge.  
  
"Monster!" I accused Frieza with a blood spatter finger. "Murderer! Demon! How dare you?! An innocent baby! A child!! MONSTER!!"  
  
My tirade was cut off my a harsh guttural scream and a brilliant flash of golden light.   
  
"GOHAN!!"  
  
When the light cleared and the scream died away, Kakarotto was the only one in the room besides Frieza who had not been knocked off of his feet by the huge gust of wind that had accompanied the bitter, grieving, empty scream.  
  
There was nothing left behind Kakarotto's eyes. Nothing. Just rage.  
  
He had become a ruthless, emotionless killing machine. A power with no control, no vision, no direction.   
  
"SuperSaiyan!" was whispered among the fallen ranks of the Saiya-jinn.  
  
"No!" Frieza snapped. "It's only a stupid story!"  
  
"DIE!" responded Kakarotto.  
  
I didn't see all of what happened next. There was a blur and a scream as Kakarotto dove for Frieza, and both seemed to vanish from view. They were moving too fast for me to see.  
  
Then, around me, all hell broke loose. Frieza's men and the Saiyans clashed violently and blood stained the walls and floors from both sides. I merely pressed myself to the wall, holding the corpse of Gohan close by me.   
  
It seemed awful that the boy's earthy remains might be trampled.  
  
One high, shill wail rended the war-torn air and everything stopped.  
  
The crowd moved in just such away that I might be able to see Kakarotto and Frieza again.  
  
I was nearly physically ill when I realized that the slick red thing Kakarotto held in his hand was Frieza's heart.  
  
A great cheer went up from the soldiers of Vejiita-sei.  
  
Rurutip came to kneel by me, barking orders at Falfa regarding a re-gen tank. All I could think was, *I've seen enough. I can't do this anymore. Please, just let me die.*  
  
Kakarotto stood stock still in the middle of a pool of blood, Frieza's collapsed and empty corpse at his feet, only a few feet from the Prince's dead body and Gohan's cooling corpse. And I was gushing blood like Old Faithful.  
  
The SuperSaiyan then dropped the cold heart disdainfully and strode over to kneel in front of me and scoop up the body of his child.  
  
Rurutip glared at him hatefully, protectively. The look on Rurutip's face said it all. 'She's mine, and if you think I'm going to let you take her back to Chikyuu-sei, you're fucked in the head!'  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't save Earth." was all he whispered to me as Falfa came forward to lift me onto a stretcher.   
  
And as I was hauled away, I saw Kakarotto fall to his knees amid the celebration of his fellow warriors, cradling the corpse of innocent little Gohan.  
  
It was the first and last time I ever saw a Saiya-jinn cry.  
  
***   
  
I don't know what happened to Kakarotto. I hope he got back to Earth. I know the King is busy trying to replace his fallen son by actively seeking out a worthy mate, while at the same time learning to rule both his own Empire and Frieza's old one.  
  
And Rurutip and I?  
  
We're still tucked away somewhere in the middle of nowhere, running a colleting station. I still lay still every night, even though he has to be more gentle than before because of the many injuries I've sustained.  
  
I now have a permanent limp in my left leg.  
  
But one thing has changed. My separation from home and my family, the tragedy that took place that night so long ago, the mindless slaughter of a braggart Prince, the death of an innocent boy... it was all because I sang.  
  
I vowed I would never ever sing again as long as I lived.  
  
And I haven't sung a note since.  
  
***  
  
THE END  
  
"And the Game never ends  
when your whole world depends  
on the turn of a friendly card."  
- Allen Parson's Project. 


End file.
